By DAVID DERBYSHIRE

Last updated at 00:38 23 January 2008

For most people, it's enough to see their paper plane fly for a few feet.

The Japanese, however, want to send one 240 miles. . .through space.

They have revealed plans to launch a heat-resistant version from the international space station and track its descent at up to 15,200mph.

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The idea is to pioneer a lightweight generation of gliders that could study the atmosphere.

The 8in-long paper dart – shaped like the Space Shuttle and weighing 11oz – has been treated with a chemical so it can survive temperatures of 200c as it

re-enters the Earth's atmosphere.

A 3in-long prototype has been tested in a wind tunnel at the University of Tokyo at temperatures up to 300c.

Engineers hope the dart will be launched in November when Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata starts work on the space station.

One of them, Professor Shinji Suzuki, said: "We don't know where it will land

but if origami planes successfully fly from space, the new design concept of

space re-entry vehicles can be explored."

The dart would have to be released during a space walk or jettisoned from an airlock.

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It would continue at the same speed as the space station, but its orbit would gradually decay.

If it survives the descent, it is most likely to end up in the sea.

And if someone finds the dart before them, the engineers at Tokyo University

have written a message in several languages saying: "This plane flew from

the International Space Station.

"Please return the plane to Japan Origami Plane Association."

In 1999 the leader of the Japan Origami Plane Association, Takuo Toda, approached Professor Suzuki to see if he could help design a three metre aeroplane for a television programme.

The plane was also designed like a space shuttle and flew successfully from the top of a mountain.

Following the project Mr Toda decided to push the boundary further and asked Professor Suzuki if he would help launch a plane from space.

They have spent the intervening years developing a plane that will not burn-up on re-entry.

The mission would follow a distinguished history of pointless experiments in space.

Over the last 10 years, the Space Shuttle has been used to discover how ants make tunnels in zero gravity, what happens to spiders in space and how roses release their perfume in orbit.

In August 2005, the main purpose of Discovery space shuttle mission was repair damage caused to its underbelly during its launch.