NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plan to launch the world’s first wooden satellite into space to make spaceflight more sustainable. LignoSat, a coffee cup-sized satellite made of magnolia wood, is planned to be launched into Earth orbit in the summer of 2024, according to space agencies.

Wood won’t burn or rot in the lifeless vacuum of space, but once in Earth’s atmosphere it will burn to fine ash, making it a surprisingly useful biodegradable material for future satellites. Scientists, who successfully tested wood samples on the International Space Station (ISS) at the beginning of this year, believe that the test satellite is ready for launch.

“Three wood samples were tested that showed no deformation after exposure to space,” the researchers said in a statement in May. “Despite the extreme environment of space, which includes significant temperature changes over ten months and exposure to intense cosmic rays and hazardous solar particles, tests confirmed the absence of any weathering or deformation such as cracking, warping, peeling or surface damage.”

To decide which wood to use, scientists sent three tree samples — magnolia, cherry or birch — to the ISS to be stored in a module exposed to space. The researchers settled on magnolia because it was less likely to split or break during production.

More than 9,300 tons (8,440 metric tons) of space objects are currently in Earth orbit, including space debris such as defunct satellites and spent rocket parts. But the shiny metals from which they are made, such as lightweight titanium and aluminum, create ambient light pollution that increases the overall brightness of the night sky by more than 10% over large parts of the planet, making it difficult to detect deep events. space.

Spacecraft made of metal are also expensive and pose a threat to the ISS, other spacecraft carrying humans, and people on Earth if they are large enough to survive reentry. According to the researchers, wooden satellites like LignoSat should theoretically be less harmful than space debris. Source