Sustainability in space travel World's first wooden satellite launched into space
Japanese researchers have sent the world's first satellite made of wood into space. Their aim is to test the use of wood for future missions to the moon and Mars.
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- The world's first wooden satellite, LignoSat, was sent into space as part of a SpaceX mission.
- Developed by researchers from Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry, LignoSat is designed to test the suitability of wood for space applications.
- Wood could be used as a sustainable building material in space, as it causes less environmental pollution on re-entry into the atmosphere.
- For LignoSat, the researchers chose wood from the Japanese Honoki magnolia, which proved to be particularly suitable.
The world's first satellite made of wood, developed by researchers at Kyoto University and the construction company Sumitomo Forestry, was sent into space on Tuesday, as reported by the news agency Reuters.
This step serves as the first test to investigate the use of wood in the exploration of the moon and Mars. The palm-sized satellite is intended to demonstrate the potential of the renewable material in space.
The satellite, named LignoSat - derived from the Latin word for wood - will be transported to the International Space Station as part of a SpaceX mission and later placed in orbit around 400 kilometers above the Earth.
Professor Koji Murata: "Wooden satellite should be feasible"
Takao Doi, an astronaut and researcher at Kyoto University, told Reuters: "With wood, a material we can produce ourselves, we will be able to build houses and live and work permanently in space."
Doi and his team are pursuing a 50-year plan to plant trees and build wooden houses on the Moon and Mars. The construction of a wooden satellite certified by Nasa is intended to prove that wood is a material suitable for use in space.
Koji Murata, a professor of forestry at Kyoto University, added in an interview with Reuters: "Airplanes from the early 1900s were made of wood. A wooden satellite should also be feasible."
Wood should even survive better in space than on Earth. This is because the organic material is not exposed to water or oxygen up there. Both contribute to the rotting or ignition of wood.
Wooden satellite to make space travel more sustainable
Another advantage of a wooden satellite is the lower environmental impact at the end of its service life. Conventional metal satellites produce aluminum oxide particles upon re-entry into the atmosphere, while wooden satellites would burn up with less pollution, Doi said.
On board the International Space Station, researchers experimented for ten months to find out that the magnolia species Honoki, which is native to Japan, is best suited for spacecraft. This is why honoki wood was chosen for LignoSat.
LignoSat will now remain in orbit for six months. During this time, it will be measured how wood withstands the extreme conditions of space.
This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). All content created by AI is verified by the editorial team.
