Finnish Plywood Company Funds ‘World’s First Wooden Satellite’

WISA WOODSAT TwitterAs if plywood wasn’t hard enough to come by these days, now some of it is headed for space.

A Finland-based student project called WISA WOODSAT is planning to send what it calls the “world’s first wooden satellite” into space this year, Interesting Engineering reports. The outer shell of the satellite is made out of plywood.

The venture is funded by WISA, a Finland-based plywood manufacturer. The satellite will reach space aboard a Rocket Lab launch vehicle following a launch currently scheduled for June 12.

The project is using a form of satellite known as a CubeSat, a tiny satellite that is commonly used to deploy payloads for scientific experiments, according to the report. They measure around 10 centimeters on each side.

Once the satellite is in orbit, a communication technology will allow students to pick up the satellite’s signal, which will be broadcast over a radio frequency, according to the report.

The plywood doesn’t add much scientific benefit to the satellite itself—except that should it crash back on earth, it’ll be a race to see which contractors can get to it first.