Revolutionary LignoSat Satellite: First Wooden Spacecraft Set to Orbit Earth for Sustainable Space Exploration

LignoSat weighs only 900 grams. It was built with magnolia wood, using traditional Japanese methods, without screws or glue. LignoSat is currently a head to the International Space Station (ISS)from where it will be released into space in about a month. It will orbit the Earth for the next six months and eventually burn up in the atmosphere.

Japanese engineers say that wood could be a new material for use in the space sector. Wooden satellites could be a more environmentally friendly way to explore space. In addition, wood is much cheaper than aluminum, the alloys and Kevlar currently used to make satellites. – Wood is more stable in space than on Earth because there is no water or oxygen to cause rotting or burning. Airplanes in the early 20th century were also made of wood, Kyoto University Professor Koji Murata told Reuters.

However, LignoSat is not entirely made of wood. It also has aluminum elements and electronics. It also has solar panels attached to one of its sides. Sensors are installed on board that monitor how wood reacts to real conditions in space, how it withstands pressure, temperature changes, radio waves and magnetic fields, as well as how efficient it is. what is the wooden cover in protecting the integrated circuits inside the satellite.

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– We must make it clear that this is not a satellite made entirely of wood, but the basic assumptions behind this idea are very interesting. From a sustainability point of view, wood is a material that can be grown and is therefore a renewable material, said Dr Simeon Barber from the Open University in the UK to the BBC.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Tokyo-based timber products company Sumitomo Forestry told AFP that the launch was “successful” and that the satellite “will soon arrive at the ISS and be released into space about a month later. ” While living in space, researchers will monitor its strength and the pressure that affects it, which will allow them to determine whether the wood can withstand extreme temperature differences and is it suitable for use in space.

Current materials being raised satellitesvery durable and can withstand high temperatures as well as constant blasting with cosmic radiation. Unfortunately, these same characteristics allow satellites to remain in orbit long after their missions have ended, leading to a continuous increase in space debris orbiting the planet. According to the World Economic Forum, there are currently more than 6,000 satellites orbiting the Earth, but only 60 percent of them are still in use. However, as the space industry accelerates, the number of satellites launched into space each year is expected to increase significantly in the coming years.

When a satellite deorbits, it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere. Smaller elements usually melt and eventually evaporate. But the aluminum used in construction remains in the upper atmosphere for years. This is the subject of some research. We do not know exactly what the impact of this will be, but it could create another environmental problem, especially as the number of satellites is increasing rapidly. That’s why scientists want to replace materials that are currently being used with wood.

The LignoSat mission is not the first time wood has been launched into space. In the Ranger program carried out in the 1960s, NASA sent unmanned probes towards the moon, which were built from wool scaup wood, commonly known as balsa. China has also experimented with wooden elements in its satellites. Scholars from the Middle Kingdom used white oak.