Japan Launches World’s First Wooden Satellite into Space

Japanese researchers have launched the world’s first wooden satellite, named LignoSat into space, marking an early exploration into the use of timber for lunar and Mars missions.

The satellite was developed by Kyoto University in partnership with Sumitomo Forestry. It will be transported to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX mission, after which it will be released into orbit approximately 400 km (250 miles) above Earth.

Derived from the Latin word for “wood,” the palm-sized LignoSat is intended to demonstrate the practicality of wood as a material for space missions.

Japanese scientists launched the LignoSat, the world’s first wooden satellite into space. It’ll stay in orbit for six months in an attempt to prove wood is a space-grade material https://t.co/GUcssZvufk pic.twitter.com/S9ldUDA4kt

• — Reuters (@Reuters) November 5, 2024

“With timber, a resource we can produce ourselves, we could eventually build homes and live and work in space permanently,” said Takao Doi, an astronaut who has flown on the Space Shuttle and now researches human space activities at Kyoto University.

Doi’s team, envisioning a 50-year plan of growing trees and constructing timber structures on the Moon and Mars, decided to create a NASA-certified wooden satellite to prove that wood can be a space-grade material. “Early 20th-century aeroplanes were made of wood,” remarked Koji Murata, a professor of forest science at Kyoto University. “A wooden satellite should be possible as well.”

Murata explained that wood is more durable in space than on Earth, as it is not exposed to water or oxygen, which would otherwise cause it to rot or ignite. The researchers added that a wooden satellite reduces environmental impact at the end of its life cycle. Unlike conventional metal satellites, which release aluminium oxide particles during atmospheric re-entry, wooden satellites would burn up with minimal pollution.

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“Metal satellites could even be banned in the future,” Doi speculated. “If our wooden satellite proves effective, we hope to propose it to SpaceX and Elon Musk.”

Industrial Applications

Following a 10-month experiment on the International Space Station, the researchers determined that honoki, a type of magnolia tree native to Japan and traditionally used for sword sheaths, is best suited for spacecraft. LignoSat is constructed from honoki, using a traditional Japanese craft technique that requires no screws or glue.

Once deployed, LignoSat will remain in orbit for six months, with its onboard electronics monitoring how well the wood withstands the extreme conditions of space, where temperatures fluctuate between -100 and 100 degrees Celsius every 45 minutes as it transitions between shadow and sunlight.

LignoSat will also assess wood’s potential to reduce the impact of space radiation on semiconductors, which could make it valuable for applications such as data center construction, explained Kenji Kariya, a manager at Sumitomo Forestry’s Tsukuba Research Institute.

“Though wood might appear old-fashioned, it is actually an advanced material as we look toward the Moon and Mars,” Kariya said. “Expanding into space could revitalise the timber industry.”