Groundbreaking Launch: World's First Wooden Satellite Reaches Space

November 8, 2024

In a groundbreaking mission for sustainable space exploration, Japanese scientists have successfully launched LignoSat, the world’s first wooden satellite, aboard a SpaceX rocket.

wooden satelite
Takao Doi / Reuters

The satellite is part of a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), where it will be released into orbit in the coming month. The pioneering project was developed by Kyoto University scientists and Sumitomo Forestry, marking a milestone in environmental innovation in space technology.

LignoSat’s purpose is to demonstrate that wood could be a viable material in space.

The satellite is set to orbit Earth for six months, enduring the intense conditions of outer space as researchers monitor its strength and durability.

Wood, surprisingly resilient in space due to the absence of oxygen and water, could offer a solution to a significant issue facing the satellite industry: metal debris from retired satellites re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Traditional metal satellites often generate metal particles upon burning up, but LignoSat, designed to disintegrate harmlessly on re-entry, has the potential to avoid this environmental impact altogether.

Japanese scientists launched the LignoSat, the world's first wooden satellite into space. It'll stay in orbit for six months in an attempt to prove wood is a space-grade material https://t.co/GUcssZvufk pic.twitter.com/S9ldUDA4kt
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 5, 2024

Kyoto University forest science professor Koji Murata noted that wood’s natural durability in the absence of oxygen could make it a reliable material for spacecraft, minimizing environmental harm when the satellite returns to Earth.

The satellite was installed in a specialized container by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and “flew into space safely,” according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Sumitomo Forestry’s spokesperson confirmed the satellite’s journey was “successful” and that it would soon arrive at the ISS, where it will then be deployed into space.