LignoSat, the world’s first satellite made mostly from wood, reached the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX cargo capsule on November 5, 2024. The palm-sized satellite, named after the Latin word for “wood," will be launched from the ISS into Earth’s orbit later this month. Its mission is to determine if wood can withstand the harsh conditions of space. If successful, LignoSat could pave the way for more environmentally friendly spacecraft designs.
The LignoSat Space Wood Project is a collaboration between Japan's Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry. The researchers began by sending a small panel containing three different wood samples to the ISS in 2022. The panel was exposed to space for ten months before being returned to Earth in early 2023. After analyzing the results, the team picked wood from magnolia trees for the satellite.
"Nobody had ever thought about using wood for rocket science before," said Professor Koji Murata of Kyoto University. "Many engineers thought wood was old technology and couldn't be applied to cutting-edge technology."
The main reason for testing a wooden satellite is to reduce space junk. Current satellites are primarily made of aluminum. The metal reacts with oxygen when the satellites burn up in Earth's atmosphere at the end of their life cycle. This process releases aluminum oxide particles, potentially damaging the ozone layer. Wooden satellites, which leave behind only water and carbon dioxide, could help alleviate this issue.
“All the satellites which re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere burn and create tiny alumina particles, which will float in the upper atmosphere for many years,” said Takao Doi, an aerospace engineer with Kyoto University. “Eventually, it will affect the environment of the Earth.”
Researchers also see a future where trees could be grown on the Moon and Mars. Successfully testing a wooden satellite would demonstrate that wood can withstand harsh space conditions.
"With timber, a material we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live and work in space forever," Doi said.
LignoSat will orbit Earth for six months, gathering valuable data before burning up in the atmosphere. Murata and his team aim to use this information to design larger and more advanced wooden satellites and devices.
Resources: Space.com, CNN.com, Sciencefocus.com
