Oh, no; his real reason for sending that Deck into space was his hopes that it would get bombarded by space radiation and turn into a super Deck.

He was right.

In this case, he's attempting to study the dweeb in its natural habitat for the purpose of science.

Why? Kaiba owns Duel Academy. If he wanted in he could do it.

Fuck, for shits and giggles he sent a deck to space to teach Aliens to duel if they ever found it. I think he can afford a spy.