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The small, wood-paneled, solar-powered satellite will orbit Earth for six months.
The world's first wood-paneled satellite has been launched into space to test the suitability of wood as a renewable building material in future exploration of destinations like the Moon and Mars.
Made by Japanese researchers, the small satellite weighing just 900g is heading to the International Space Station as part of a SpaceX mission. It will then be placed in orbit above the Earth.
Named LignoSat, after the Latin word for wood, its panels were constructed from a species of magnolia, using a traditional technique without screws or glue.
The Kyoto University researchers who developed it hope that it will be possible in the future to replace some metals used in space exploration with wood.
“Wood is more durable in space than on Earth because there is no water or oxygen that could rot or ignite it,” Koji Murata, a professor of forestry sciences at Kyoto University, told AFP. the Reuters news agency.
“Airplanes in the early 1900s were made of wood,” Professor Murata said. “A wooden satellite should also be feasible.”
If trees could one day be planted on the Moon or Mars, wood could also provide material for colonies in space in the future, researchers hope.
In addition to its wooden panels, LignoSat also integrates traditional aluminum structures and electronic components. It has sensors on board to monitor how its wood reacts to the extreme environment of space during the six months it will orbit Earth.
Kyoto University
The satellite is powered by a solar panel and has sensors to monitor how the wood holds up to extreme conditions in space.
Dr Simeon Barber, a research scientist at the UK's Open University, said: “We need to be clear that this is not a satellite made entirely of wood… but the principle basic behind this idea is really interesting.
“From a sustainability point of view, wood is a material that can be grown and therefore renewable,” he told the BBC.
“The idea that you could grow wood on another planet to help you explore space or build shelters – explorers have always used wood to make shelters when they traveled to a new country .”
Dr Barber said this was not the first time wood had been used on spacecraft.
“We use wood – cork – on the outer re-entry shell of spacecraft to help them survive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.”
Russian and Soviet lunar landers used cork to help the rover get a good grip during its descent to the surface, he added.
“There’s nothing wrong with using wood in space: it’s about using the right material for the right task.”
He pointed out that wood has properties that are difficult to control.
“So from a technical point of view, it's quite a difficult material to work with… I think wood will always have a problem making critical structures like the parts of a spaceship that you have to predict the resistance.”
Researchers at Kyoto University hope that the use of wood in the manufacture of spacecraft could also be much less polluting than that of metal when they burn upon their return at the end of their life.
Kyoto University
Using wood could increase spacecraft's weight, warns British scientist
Experts have warned of the growing threat of space debris falling to Earth as more spacecraft and satellites are launched.
Dr Barber acknowledged that the space industry was under increasing pressure due to the amount of pollution it spews into the atmosphere, but he was skeptical that using wooden spacecraft could provide the answer. .
“In principle, having materials like wood that can burn more easily would certainly reduce these metal contaminants… But you might end up taking more materials with you in the first place, just to burn them on the way down.”
