Researchers launch world’s first solid-wood spacecraft — here’s how it could solve a major issue with space travel

Earlier this month, the world’s first wooden satellite built by Japanese scientists was launched into space from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, which could set an exciting precedent for future space travel.

The satellite, called LignoSat, was created by Kyoto University and Japanese construction company Sumitomo Forestry in a preliminary trial of using wood for lunar and Mars expeditions.

Launched atop a SpaceX rocket at the space center to the International Space Station, it will remain in orbit for six months about 250 miles above Earth to show that it can withstand the extreme conditions of outer space, per Reuters.

LignoSat is named after the Latin word for wood, lignum, and is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Yet, it has a mighty purpose: to prove that this sustainable material can hold up in space as we take steps to explore living beyond planet Earth.

“With timber, a material we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live and work in space forever,” Takao Doi, a Japanese astronaut, engineer, and veteran of two NASA Space Shuttle missions, told Reuters.

It turns out timber is incredibly resilient, able to withstand the extreme temperature fluctuations in space, which can range from -148 degrees to 212 degrees Fahrenheit depending on whether darkness or sunlight is present, as Reuters explained.

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The aim is to construct timber dwellings and plant trees over the course of 50 years on Mars and the moon if LignoSat’s mission proves successful. Kyoto University professor Koji Murata is confident in the humble yet durable satellite because planes in the early 20th century were made of wood, as he told Reuters.

Murata explained that since no water or oxygen exists in space, wood is more resilient in the cosmos than on Earth. In addition, the material is more environmentally friendly than typical materials used to make satellites, such as aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber.

Instead of reentering the atmosphere and releasing harmful metal particles into space, wooden satellites are simply incinerated, leaving no pollution or toxic materials behind.

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To create LignoSat, researchers used honoki, a type of magnolia tree native to Japan and normally used to make sword covers. After experimenting with the material for 10 months on the International Space Station, scientists determined honoki was the best wood to use on spacecraft.

In addition to its primary mission, LignoSat will test wood’s ability to lower the impact of cosmic radiation on semiconductors, making it a potential material for data center construction.

“It may seem outdated, but wood is actually cutting-edge technology as civilisation heads to the moon and Mars,” a Sumitomo Forestry Tsukuba Research Institute manager said. “Expansion to space could invigorate the timber industry.”

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