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Wooden Satellites: The Future of Eco-Friendly Space Exploration?

LignoSat, the world's first wooden satellite, has proven the concept. Now, LignoSat-2 and WISA Woodsat are set to build on this success, promising a greener future for space exploration.

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The picture is clicked inside a house where everything is wood made , on the floor there is a...
The picture is clicked inside a house where everything is wood made , on the floor there is a wooden chair and a wooden seat. To the left of the image there is a sofa with red and green pillows on top of it. In the background we observe trees and there is beautiful hanging fitted to the roof.

Wooden Satellites: The Future of Eco-Friendly Space Exploration?

Former astronaut Takao Doi has a vision for the future of space exploration: wooden satellites. His dream, inspired by ancient wooden shrines in Kyoto, aims to make space development more accessible and eco-friendly. Doi's idea gained traction with the launch of LignoSat, the world's first wooden satellite to reach orbit.

LignoSat, a CubeSat made of magnolia wood panels with an aluminum frame, spent 116 days in space, proving wooden satellites can work. However, the first mission faced communication issues, preventing four of its five goals from being completed. Undeterred, Doi and his colleagues are developing LignoSat-2, expected to launch in 2028, with two communication systems to address the previous mission's issues.

Wooden spacecraft could reduce pollution compared to metal satellites. Upon reentry, wood generates only carbon dioxide, biodegradable ash, and water vapor. This makes wooden satellites an attractive alternative for future space missions. The team behind LignoSat-2 includes researchers from the University of Zurich and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, as well as the European Space Agency. Meanwhile, Finnish space technology company Arctic Astronautics is developing its own wooden satellite, WISA Woodsat, with a suite of sensors and a deployable camera.

Takao Doi's dream of wooden satellites is moving closer to reality. With LignoSat's successful orbit and the development of LignoSat-2, the potential for wooden spacecraft to reduce pollution and make space development more accessible is becoming a tangible possibility. As Grace van Deelen reports, the future of space exploration may indeed be wooden.

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