Less scrap metal:

Japanese researchers present satellite made of wood

The "LignoSat" is due to be launched into space in September.

(Bild: AFP/JIJI PRESS/STR)

Japanese researchers have built a satellite made of wood for the first time. The cube-shaped satellite with an edge length of ten centimetres is to be launched into space in September by a rocket from the private US space company SpaceX, its designers, scientists from Kyoto University and the timber company Sumitomo Forestry, said on Tuesday. 

With the new design, they are pursuing the goal of reducing space debris in the Earth's atmosphere. On re-entry into the atmosphere, the magnolia wood satellite is to burn up completely. In this way - unlike the previous re-entry of satellites into the Earth's atmosphere - no polluting metal particles would be released.

Such metal particles can have a negative impact on the environment and telecommunications, as the developers of the wooden satellite pointed out. "Satellites that are not made of metal should become the standard," said astronaut Takao Doi, a researcher at Kyoto University, at a press conference.

Astronaut Takao Doi at the presentation of the "LignoSat"

(Bild: JIJI PRESS/STR)

From the ISS into space
The wooden satellite called LignoSat is to be handed over to the Japanese space agency Jaxa next week. A SpaceX rocket, which will be launched from the US Kennedy Space Center in September, will then take the new satellite to the International Space Station (ISS). There it will be sent into space by the Japanese research module to test its stability in space. According to a Sumitomo Forestry spokeswoman, the wooden satellite must also be able to withstand large temperature differences.