The world's first wooden satellite has been built by Japanese researchers who said their tiny cuboid craft will be blasted off on a SpaceX rocket in September.
The creators expect the wooden material will burn up completely when the device re-enters the atmosphere—potentially providing a way to avoid the generation of metal particles when a retired satellite returns to Earth.
These metal particles could have a negative impact on the environment and telecommunications, the developers said as they announced the satellite’s completion on Tuesday.
Doesn’t metal usually burn up on re-entry too?
From the article.
Apparently, that causes radio interference, but I don’t think it lasts that long (days to hours)