World’s first wooden satellite, developed in Japan, heads to space
NBCOCT 2024
Wooden satellites represent an environmentally conscious solution for space exploration, as they burn up cleanly during atmospheric re-entry compared to metal satellites that release aluminum oxide particles. Metal satellites might face future restrictions, making wooden alternatives increasingly important for sustainable space development.
Timber has properties that are hard to control, and from an engineering point of view, it's a complex material to make critical structures like spacecraft parts. Finding ways to make future space exploration sustainable is fine, but theusing use of wood in space technology is outdated and offers no real solution to reducing the space industry's environmental impact.
There's a 1% chance that there will be at least one human fatality in space due to space debris by 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.