Developed by Kyoto University researchers and the Japanese timber company Sumitomo Forestry, LignoStat -- the satellite is named after the Latin word for wood -- will soon be launched into orbit about 250 miles above Earth. There, it will orbit for six ...

The world's first wooden satellite, built by Japanese researchers, was launched into space on Tuesday, in an early test of using timber in lunar and Mars exploration.

A Japanese company just built a wooden satellite and sent it to space in order to test the material’s durability. This could pave the way to more space-based structures made from wood.