Japanese university wants to reduce space debris with wooden satellites | NOW

The University of Kyoto and the Japanese company Sumitomo Forestry are jointly building wooden satellites, the report writes BBC Tuesday. The satellites should be ready for launch in 2023.

The wooden satellites should ensure less space waste, the makers say. The devices burn up completely when they return to Earth’s atmosphere.

“We are very concerned that any satellites returning to Earth’s atmosphere will burn up and create tiny alumina particles that float through the upper atmosphere for years,” said Professor Takao Doi. “That will affect the Earth’s climate.”

The hundreds of satellites that are launched every year cause a lot of space debris, because parts keep floating around the earth. Experts have long warned that space debris can be dangerous if it falls back to Earth or hits something else in space.

The latter happened in 2016, for example, when a small piece of space junk came into contact with the International Space Station. A piece was carved out of a heavily reinforced window.

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