Japan Sends World’s First Wooden Satellite to Space

The satellite is onboard a SpaceX flight to the ISS.

The first wooden satellite has been launched into space. Created in Japan, the satellite was onboard a SpaceX mission to the International Space Station, where it’ll be sent into orbit, CNN reported first.

The satellite was developed in a partnership between Kyoto University and the company Sumitomo Forestry. Named after the Latin word for wood, they called the satellite “LignoSat.”

The palm-sized satellite aims to test how wood holds up in space, particularly as it pertains to humans living in space.

“With timber, a material we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live and work in space forever,” said Takao Doi, an astronaut who studies human space activities at Kyoto University.

Doi said that if they can prove the satellite works, they plan to pitch it to SpaceX.

If all goes well, LignoSat is scheduled to orbit Earth for six months.