The world’s first wooden satellite was launched aboard a SpaceX rocket as part of a resupply mission to the International Space Station, Japanese developers said Tuesday.

Scientists at Kyoto University expect the wooden material to burn when the device re-enters the atmosphere, potentially providing a way to prevent metal particles from forming when a retired satellite returns to Earth.

Developers say these particles can negatively impact both the environment and telecommunications.

The box-like experimental satellite, called LignoSat, measures just 10 centimeters (four inches) on each side.

Kyoto University’s Center for Human Space Science said the plane was launched on an unmanned rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In a post published on X, it was stated that the satellite, placed in a special container prepared by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, “flew safely into space”.

A spokesman for Sumitomo Forestry, LignoSat’s co-developer, told AFP the launch was “successful”.

“It will arrive at the ISS soon and will be released into space about a month later” to test its strength and endurance, he said.

Data will be sent from the satellite to researchers who can check for signs of stress 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.