Japan might soon produce the first wooden satellites in the world that will burn as they fall back towards Earth and not release harmful chemicals into the atmosphere to help reduce the amount of space debris.
Sumitomo Forestry, a Japan-based wood processing firm, announced that they are researching the best wood material suitable for the space environment.
They plan to conduct research in conjunction with Kyoto University and test the material in extreme conditions on Earth. The company announced that the satellite would be ready in 2023.
The group says that the issue of space debris is likely to alter the environmental conditions of Earth. As reported by BBC during an interview with an astronaut, “We are extremely concerned about how all satellites that re-enter Earth’s atmosphere will burn up and produce tiny alumina particles that will remain within the atmosphere’s upper layers for several years.”
The satellites made of wood would heat to ashes upon re-entry without raining dirt on the Earth.
The term “space junk” or space pollution, are the fragments of spacecraft and satellites, rockets, or the explosions of things that are orbiting through space with high speed.
In October, the US satellite surveillance system reported around 20,000 artificial objects that orbited above Earth, with 218 operational satellites.
The experts have advised that growing spacecraft that orbit space will require more effort from nations to tackle space debris. Many companies such as SpaceX and Amazon intend to launch thousands of satellites to get global satellite internet coverage.
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