Japan poised to build world's first wooden satellite

Japanese scientists are building the world’s first wooden satellite, in an attempt to reduce the pollution of space by metal junk and its potential effects on the ozone layer.

The LignoSat, which will be made of magnolia wood and is the size of a kitchen mug, is expected to be launched on a US rocket as early as the summer. The project, by a team from Kyoto University and the commercial company, Sumitomo Forestry, follows a successful experiment in 2022, when samples of wood were exposed to the rigours of space for nine months on the International Space Station.

Lacking oxygen, wood does not burn in space and the absence of micro-organisms means that it does not rot either. The ISS tests, conducted over