Special – Marwa Al-Batta
NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plan to launch the world’s first wooden satellite into space in a bid to make spaceflight more sustainable.
LignoSat, a coffee cup-sized satellite made of magnolia wood, is scheduled to be launched into Earth orbit by the summer of 2024, according to space agencies.
One of the features of this moon is that wood does not burn or rot in the lifeless vacuum of space, but will burn to fine ash upon returning to Earth’s atmosphere – making it a surprisingly useful and biodegradable material for future satellites.
After successfully testing wood samples aboard the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this year, scientists believe the test satellite is suitable for launch.
While the researchers explained in May: “Three wooden samples were tested and did not show any deformation after exposure to space.” “Despite the harsh environment of outer space involving large temperature variations and exposure to intense cosmic rays and dangerous solar particles for ten months, tests confirmed no degradation or deformations, such as cracking, warping, peeling or surface damage.”
To decide which wood to use, scientists sent three wood samples — magnolia, cherry, or birch — to the International Space Station to be kept in a space-exposed module. The researchers settled on the magnolia plant because it is less likely to split or break during manufacturing.
Researchers say wooden satellites like LignoSat should theoretically be less harmful as space junk.
