New Delhi: Japan has just sent the world’s first wooden satellite into space towards paving the way for sustainable space travel and exploration. Jointly designed by Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry, the satellite was taken to the ISS through a SpaceX mission.
It will be taken later to an orbit of about 400 kilometres above the surface of the earth. This mission is to investigate the possibility of using wood as a space qualified material, an idea based on the concept of renewable auto-synthetic resources for future lunar and Martian habitats.
Why Wood? Insights from Research
For the design of LignoSat, honoki wood, a long-lasting kind of magnolia tree native to Japan, has been used; this wood has been used in the making of items such as sword sheaths. Ten months of tests on the ISS showed that honoki is very suitable for use in spacecraft because it is resistant to space conditions, as opposed to the conditions on Earth which include rotting and burning from the presence of water and oxygen. Especially, it was made by Japanese standards of art, not using screws or adhesives, and it is important in space engineering.
A former astronaut and a current Kyoto University researcher studying human space activities, Professor Takao Doi, has suggested that timber could be a critical component for building long-term structures in space. “With timber, a material we can produce ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live and work in space forever,” Doi said. He wants to make wooden buildings as the solution for humans inhabiting other planets beyond this planet, and this satellite being a prototype.
Environmental Advantages and Uses
The project also emphasises that wooden satellites are more environmentally friendly than their metallic counterparts, particularly when their mission is over. Wooden satellites are expected to burn cleaner than conventional satellites that disintegrate upon re-entry and scatter aluminium oxide particles into the environment. Doi went further to say that upon passing tests, wooden satellites could be an environmentally friendly type and could attract companies such as SpaceX.
Potential Industrial Impact
The other areas of interest for the researchers alongside space exploration are the effects of the wooden structure of LignoSat on radiation impact on electronics onboard the station. If wood were found to protect semiconductors from space radiation, the findings can inform new architectural designs for data centres or other hi-tech buildings that are exposed to radiation on earth or in space. Kenji Kariya of Sumitomo Forestry says, “While it might sound clichéd, wood is one of the newest technologies as the world moves toward the Moon and Mars.”
Finally, this original wooden satellite may boost the timber industry and introduce new requirements for space-rated timber goods while recalling Japan’s pledge to environmentally friendly space usage.
