Illustration of the Pleiades satellite -
CNES / Mira Productions / PAROT Rémy, 2012
How to limit pollution in space in the face of the proliferation of satellites?
To answer this question, the Japanese company Sumitomo Forestry and Kyoto University (Japan) have launched a partnership.
Their goal: to design a wooden satellite by 2023, reports the
BBC.
This material would only have advantages: it can disintegrate in the atmosphere when it falls back to Earth and its combustion would thus prevent any debris from reaching the Earth's surface.
Will it even work?
https://t.co/GgIMhzET14
- Popular Mechanics (@PopMech) December 30, 2020
A sky saturated with satellites
This is not the case with current satellites.
"We are very concerned that all the satellites that enter the Earth's atmosphere burn and create tiny particles that will float in the upper atmosphere for many years," said Takao Doi, astronaut and professor at the university. from Kyoto, to the
Guardian
.
According to the World Economic Forum around 6,000 satellites currently revolve around the Earth.
But 60% of them no longer work and are therefore listed as space debris, reports
Clubic.
These objects can be dangerous for humans in the event of a fall on Earth, but this threat does not in any way slow down the creation and sending of new satellites.
Indeed, 900 new craft are expected to be sent into space each year over the next ten years.
Hence the idea of creating a new generation of satellites without danger to humans or the environment.
Japanese researchers will start by testing the resistance of different types of wood in order to choose the most suitable for space travel.
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