The world’s first wooden satellite took off with a rocket SpaceXas part of a resupply mission to the International Space Station, Japanese developers said Tuesday. Kyoto University scientists expect the wooden material to burn when the device re-enters the atmosphere, possibly providing a way to prevent the formation of metal particles when the decommissioned satellite returns to Earth.

According to the developers, these particles can negatively affect both the environment and telecommunications. The box-shaped experimental satellite, called LignoSat, measures just 10 centimeters (four inches) on each side.

Kyoto University Space Science Center said the plane was launched on an unmanned rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SatelliteAccording to a publication in X, the rocket, placed in a special container prepared by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, “flew safely into space.”

A spokesman for LignoSat’s co-developer Sumitomo Forestry told AFP the launch was “successful”. It will “arrive at the ISS soon and be launched into space in about a month” to test its strength and durability, he said. Data will be sent from the satellite to researchers who can check for signs of deformation and determine whether the satellite can withstand extreme temperature changes.

“Satellites that are not made of metal should become mainstream,” Takao Doi, an astronaut and special professor at Kyoto University, said at a press conference earlier this year.