This wooden satellite could reduce space pollution

When we think of space satellites, we tend to think of bulky and polluting metal machines, but the situation could change. Researchers from Kyoto University have developed the first wooden satellite to orbit the Earth, aiming to combine solidity and respect for the environment.

Stronger than it seems

Called LignoSat, this wooden satellite weighs 900 grams and is the size of a palm. Designed by researchers at Kyoto University and real estate builder Sumitomo, LignoSat sits in orbit about 400 km above Earth, reports Reuters. Koji Murata, professor of forestry sciences at Kyoto University, explains that the choice of wood is not trivial, it is more sustainable in space than on Earth, because there is no water or oxygen which could rot or ignite it. At the end of its life, when the satellite must fall back to Earth to burn, it would also produce fewer toxic compounds.

For six months, the electronic components on board the satellite will have to measure how the wood resists the extreme environment of space with temperatures oscillating between -100 and 100°C every 45 minutes and alternating between darkness and light. sun. If the tests prove conclusive, the researchers hope to be able to propose a wooden satellite model that would be certified by NASA, proving that wood can be a feasible space material.

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An environmental challenge

Space is far from being the empty space we imagine: many space debris resulting from previous missions float around the earth and scientists are alerted to the threat that this debris can represent when it will fall and burn on Earth.

Interviewed by the BBC, Dr Simeon Barber, a space researcher at the Open University in the UK, said he was skeptical that wooden ships could provide the complete answer to space pollution. If he specifies that “materials like wood that can burn more easily would certainly reduce these metal contaminants” he warns that manufacturers could choose to take more equipment and create another type of pollution.