A group of researchers in Japan built the first satellite made of wood and are getting ready to launch it later this year to test its capabilities in Earth orbit.
The experimental satellite was developed by scientists at Kyoto University and Tokyo logging company Sumitomo Forestry, and is set to launch in September on board a SpaceX rocket, according to The Japan Times. The rocket will liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending the satellite to the International Space Station (ISS). The satellite will then be released from Japan’s Kibo module to test how it withstands the harsh environment of space.
LignoSat is a tiny cube made from magnolia wood, measuring 4 inches on each side and weighing just over 2 pounds. It’s been nearly four years in the making, and the idea was first proposed as a way to create a low-cost spacecraft that wouldn’t add to the growing problem of orbital junk. The satellite isn’t entirely made out of wood, of course, only the parts that would usually be constructed from aluminum.
Unlike traditional satellites, a wooden satellite would burn up entirely when reentering Earth’s atmosphere. Satellites made from metal can break into pieces of space junk or burn up, releasing harmful aluminum into the atmosphere and causing negative environmental impacts. Another advantage is that wood doesn’t block electromagnetic waves, so the satellite could house its antennas inside its wooden body rather than on the outside.
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The researchers behind LignoSat have tested wood in space before. In March 2022, the researchers exposed three types of wood to the harsh environment outside the ISS and found that the material was not affected by the surrounding cosmic rays or incoming solar particles over a period of 10 months.
After examining the three different types of wood on board the ISS, the team concluded that magnolia wood is the most durable kind due to its overall strength. That’s why it was chosen as the material used to build LignoSat.
The LignoSat team is also thinking longterm, hoping to incorporate wood into building more structures in space. “Expanding the potential of wood as a sustainable resource is significant,” Takao Doi, a professor at Kyoto University professor and astronaut, said during a press conference on Wednesday. “We aim to build human habitats using wood in space, such as on the Moon and Mars, in the future.”
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