Japanese researchers are working on satellite technology that would use wood components to remove excess space debris, which would allow objects to burn as they return to Earth’s atmosphere, according to a new report.
Sumitomo Forestry, a 400-year-old Japanese timber company, is partnering with Kyoto University to develop the technology, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
NASA estimated more than a decade ago that 95% of man-made objects in orbit were space debris. They come from missing satellites, discarded rocket stages, and other discarded mission materials.
Most are relatively small, according to the European Space Agency. Of the 128 million pieces of debris in orbit, only about 34,000 objects exceed 10 cm. But when larger objects collide, they produce much smaller ones. And they can travel more than 20,000 mph, making even small dangerous particles.
There are also about 2,800 satellites in orbit, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, which maintains a satellite database. Governments and space tariff companies plan to launch thousands more in the future.
Experts are concerned that too much rubbish in orbit could complicate future launches, possibly reducing the flight path window. Larger objects falling out of orbit are also dangerous to life on earth
Space debris threatens satellites and can be potentially lethal to astronauts. Some launches from countries less concerned about security protocols can send huge chunks of material back to Earth.
In May, a Chinese rocket nucleus rained to pieces over West Africa. If his re-entry had been minutes earlier, he could have crashed into New York City.
Wooden satellites would break completely, instead of crashing back into the surface or leaving small metal particles that could puncture space suits, solar panels, or shuttles in the future.
“We are very concerned that all the satellites that re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere burn and create small alumina particles that will float in the upper atmosphere for many years,” the professor of the BBC told the BBC. Kyoto University and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi. “Eventually, it will affect the Earth’s environment.”
In October, two pieces of rubbish nearly collided 615 miles above Earth. One was an inoperative Russian satellite launched in 1989 and the other a Chinese rocket since 2009.
The objects passed less than 39 meters apart in an immediate crash, but a collision could have broken them into thousands of pieces and then posed risks for further collisions with other objects.