Against space pollution, a wooden satellite sent into space by Japanese scientists

SPACE – A technological gem made from renewable material. The world’s first wooden satellite was built by Japanese researchers and is due to be launched into space on November 5, as part of a test of the use of wood in the exploration of the Moon and Mars . Scientists see this as the solution to preventing space pollution since it would disintegrate without producing waste at the end of its life.

LignoSat, developed by Kyoto University and homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry, is heading to the International Space Station as part of a SpaceX mission and will be launched into orbit about 400 km (250 miles) above the Earth in the coming weeks. As we explain in the video at the top of the article, the LignoSat (named after the Latin word for “wood”) is the size of a palm; it must demonstrate the cosmic potential of this renewable material as humans explore life in space.

« So far, no country has planned to use wood for space development. The use of wood in space paves the way for humans to achieve sustainable and eternal development in space, and I want people around the world to know such an approach said Takao Doi, an astronaut with space shuttle mission experience who studies human activities in space at Kyoto University.

A traditional Japanese craft technique

As part of its 50-year plan to plant trees and build wooden houses on the Moon and Mars, Doi’s team decided to first develop a NASA-certified wooden satellite to prove that wood is a space-grade material.

« The wood used for this satellite comes from a species of magnolia: the Japanese honoki. Traditionally, it is easy to process and resists shattering “, explained Koji Murata, professor of forestry sciences at Kyoto University.

Researchers have discovered that honoki, traditionally used for sword sheaths, is most suitable for making spacecraft, after a 10-month experiment on the International Space Station. LignoSat was made from honoki wood, using a traditional Japanese craft technique, without screws or glue.

No space debris

Koji Murata noted that airplanes were made of wood in the early 1900s and that they are more durable in space than on earth because there is no water or oxygen that could rot or damage them. ignite.

A wooden satellite can also minimize its environmental impact when it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere at the end of its life to avoid becoming space debris, researchers say. Conventional metal satellites emit aluminum oxide particles upon re-entry, Doi said, which could lead to a pollution problem as the number of satellite constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink increases.

Once deployed, LignoSat will remain in orbit for six months to measure the strength of wood in an extreme environment where temperatures fluctuate from -100 to 100 degrees Celsius every 45 minutes.

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