World’s first wooden satellite launched to space

Japan has conscionable launched nan first-ever woody outer to space.

The LignoSat cubesat was sent skyward by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center successful Florida connected Monday and arrived astatine nan International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Dragon proviso vessel nan pursuing day. The outer will enactment successful orbit for astir six months erstwhile it’s deployed from nan ISS later this year.

Created by scientists astatine Kyoto University successful business pinch homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry, each broadside of nan cubesat measures a specified 4 inches (about 10 centimeters). It’s made of honoki, a type of magnolia character autochthonal to Japan, and has been constructed utilizing accepted Japanese techniques that forgo nan usage of screws aliases glue.

The thought down nan ngo is to trial nan effectiveness of utilizing woody materials for satellites arsenic a measurement to trim abstraction junk and protect nan environment. When a outer is decommissioned successful low-Earth orbit, operators will effort to dispose of it by burning it up successful Earth’s atmosphere. But nan ample metallic objects don’t ever wholly disintegrate, pinch chunks of metallic sometimes making it to nan aboveground of our planet. Tiny metallic particles tin besides extremity up successful nan environment.

Sensors aboard LignoSat will nonstop backmost information that will let scientists to study astir really good nan woody outer is capable to woody pinch nan harsh conditions of space, which see immense fluctuations successful temperature.

Digital Trends first reported connected plans for nan woody satellite 4 years ago. Speaking to nan BBC astatine nan time, Takao Doi, a professor astatine Kyoto University and a erstwhile Japanese astronaut who has been to nan ISS, said: “We’re very concerned pinch nan truth that each nan satellites which re-enter nan Earth’s ambiance pain and create mini alumina particles which will float successful nan precocious ambiance for galore years.”

Speaking much recently, Doi said that if a woody outer creation is recovered to beryllium a viable replacement to metallic ones, nan squad down LignoSat plans to transportation it to SpaceX.