Finnish company takes plywood cube into orbit. The space race becomes sustainable: the wooden satellite is not far away.
The great talk of space in recent years, as well as keeping us all a little longer with our heads up, has made it much clearer that the future of mankind passes through Earth orbit. Between Mr. Amazon Jeff Bezos, who imagines himself as a tourist in the cosmos, who scans the galactic depths (or even our "opposite" planets, as in the case of mushrooms on Mars) in search of alien life forms and who plans to send a probe as far as possible with the technology currently available to us, in all this, there is a company that keeps its feet on the ground (so to speak) with the aim of bringing into space a trend very present in the current debate on technological development: sustainability.
The reference is to WISA, the patent of the Finnish company Arctic Astronauts: a satellite in the shape of a cube of plywood, measuring about 10 centimeters, already tested and ready to earn its corner of Earth orbit. In the sign, of course, of the green.
Here is when this small miracle of engineering will start.
What is the wooden satellite of the Finns
WISA appears as an object with a regular shape and rather small size: a cube of plywood of 10 centimeters. As already pointed out, the Finnish satellite has been tested. Specifically, in fact, was raised to the height of the stratosphere with a weather balloon, so that the executors of the experiment could study the reactions of the unusual material even at high altitude.
The purpose of the technology derived from the raw material of trees is to allow to make small communications in connection with radio stations around the globe. For this reason, in the run-in phase, WISA has been equipped with a selfie stick to which a camera has been attached.
What is the purpose of the plywood probe and when will it be launched into space
Avoiding the use of steel in the construction of satellites would mean reducing the release of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by the process of production of the material. That's why WISA is a promising technology in a future that passes through space.
But when will the final launch take place? Not long now. In fact, the roadmap of the manufacturing company already indicates 2021 as the year of release in orbit.
Giuseppe Giordano