Insider Brief
- Researchers from Kyoto University launched the world’s first wooden satellite, LignoSat, with the ultimate goal of building sustainable habitats in space.
- The satellite, made from a type of magnolia traditionally used in Japanese sword sheaths, aims to showcase timber as an alternative material for space structures.
- In the coming decades, Takao Doi, a Kyoto University astronaut and researcher in human space activities and his team envision planting trees on the moon and Mars, aiming for self-sustaining timber structures across extraterrestrial environments.
- Before this launch, the researchers spent ten months on the International Space Station testing various wood types and found Honoki to be the most suitable for space.
- Over the next six months, LignoSat will orbit Earth, facing extreme temperature fluctuations from -100°C to 100°C every 45 minutes.
Japan reportedly launched the world’s first wooden satellite, LignoSat, to test the resilience of honoki wood in space. Developed by Kyoto University researchers and made from a type of magnolia traditionally used in Japanese sword sheaths, the satellite aims to showcase timber as an alternative material for space structures.
LignoSat’s creators have an ambitious vision: building sustainable habitats in space. Takao Doi, a Kyoto University astronaut and researcher in human space activities, sees wood as key to long-term space habitation. “With timber, a material we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live, and work in space forever,” Doi explains. In the coming decades, he and his team envision planting trees on the moon and Mars, aiming for self-sustaining timber structures across extraterrestrial environments.
Before this launch, the researchers spent ten months on the International Space Station (ISS) testing various wood types and found honoki most suitable for space. Instead of using traditional screws or glue, they applied a Japanese crafts technique to assemble the satellite, enhancing its resilience. Over the next six months, LignoSat will orbit Earth, facing extreme temperature fluctuations from -100°C to 100°C every 45 minutes. The mission’s key objectives are to examine honoki’s durability under these conditions and evaluate its potential to shield sensitive electronics from space radiation.
The Kyoto team believes wood holds several advantages over conventional metals in satellite construction. Unlike metal, which creates oxide particles when re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, wood burns up more cleanly, potentially reducing space debris pollution. Timber’s durability may also exceed that on Earth, as space lacks the moisture and oxygen that typically cause wood to rot or burn.
Kenji Kariya, manager at Sumitomo Forestry Tsukuba Research Institute, sees a bright future for timber in space exploration, adding, “It may seem outdated, but wood is actually cutting-edge technology as civilization heads to the moon and Mars.”
Image credit: Kyoto University
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