Biodiversity … the planet is a constant concern. Plastic pollution, space debris … Then the big ideas come up. For example those of the University of Kyoto and the Sumitomo Forestry Company. Japan will launch a wooden satellite by 2023, the first of its kind.
Plant seeds
Plans to create such a satellite were announced at a seed-planting ceremony. By the way, very appropriate. From these seeds, trees should grow to make the spaceship, reports Nikkei Asia. But what are the advantages of a wooden satellite, if any?
As the project developers explained, the wooden box does not block electromagnetic waves or the earth’s magnetic field. What does that mean? This enables the placement of antennas and other sensitive mechanisms on the satellite to be simplified. When it leaves orbit and begins to fall to Earth, it burns completely in the dense layers of the atmosphere. Of course, this excludes the possibility of emissions of pollutants. And so they would avoid polluting the surface of the planet with debris.
The creators of the project hope to continue developing technologies for using wood in extreme conditions. With this project you can not only minimize damage to the environment. Due to its nature, production costs are also drastically reduced.
Wooden skyscraper
And it’s not just that Japan is going to launch a wooden satellite: there is something else. Sumitomo Forestry dreams of building a 70-story wooden skyscraper in 2041. His project is being planned, but the Japanese are taking it seriously. Some of the images of his visionary project are on his website and you can check them out here.
Is it possible that one day we will look at the city from the 70th floor of a wooden skyscraper? Well why not?
