World’s first wooden satellite launched into space

By burning when re-entering the atmosphere, the wooden device avoids generating metal debris

DT·6 November 2024, 12:40 am·1 min read

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World’s first wooden satellite launched into space — HISTORIC FIRST. This file photo taken on May 28, 2024 shows the world’s first satellite made from wood, named LignoSat, developed by scientists at Kyoto University and logging company Sumitomo Forestry, during a press conference in Kyoto. The world’s first wooden satellite has blasted off on a SpaceX rocket, its Japanese developers said on Nov. 5, 2024, part of an resupply mission to the International Space Station.
JIJI PRESS / AFP

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The world’s first wooden satellite has blasted off on a SpaceX rocket, its Japanese developers said Tuesday, part of a resupply mission to the International Space Station.

Scientists at Kyoto University expect the wooden material to burn up when the device re-enters the atmosphere — potentially providing a way to avoid generating metal particles when a retired satellite returns to Earth.

These particles may negatively impact both the environment and telecommunications, the developers say.

Each side of the box-like experimental satellite, named LignoSat, measures just 10 centimeters (four inches).

It was launched on an unmanned rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Kyoto University’s Human Spaceology Center said.

The satellite, installed in a special container prepared by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, “flew into space safely,” it said in a post on X.

A spokesperson for LignoSat’s co-developer Sumitomo Forestry told Agence France-Presse the launch had been “successful.”