The world’s first satellite made of wood is launched into space

The world’s first wooden satellite, LignoSat, built by Japanese researchers, was launched into space as part of a SpaceX mission. The satellite will be delivered to the International Space Station and then launched into orbit at an altitude of about 400 km above the Earth. This was reported by Reuters.

LignoSat was developed by the joint efforts of Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry. The satellite is named after the Latin word lignum, which means wood. LignoSat is as small as a human palm. It is intended to demonstrate the space potential of renewable materials.

“With timber, a material we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live and work in space forever,” says Takao Doi, an astronaut at Kyoto University.

Wood is more durable in space than on Earth because there is no water or oxygen to cause it to rot or burn. A wooden satellite minimizes the environmental impact during decommissioning.

Usually, decommissioned satellites fall into the atmosphere at the end of their operation. That is, they leave behind space debris in orbit. Wooden satellites will simply burn up and leave no trace behind.

To create the satellites, we chose the Honoki plant, or “Reverse-ovate Magnolia,” which grows in Japan and was traditionally used to make sword sheaths.

Once deployed, LignoSat will remain in orbit for six months. The electronic components on board will measure how the wood withstands the extreme conditions of space, where temperatures fluctuate from -100 to 100 degrees Celsius every 45 minutes as it moves through orbit from darkness to sunlight.

LignoSat will also measure the ability of wood to reduce the effects of cosmic radiation on semiconductors. This will make it useful for applications such as data center construction.

“It may seem outdated, but wood is actually cutting-edge technology,” says Kenji Kariya, manager of the Sumitomo Forestry Tsukuba Research Institute.