A researcher from Japan’s Kyoto University Koji Murata wondered if “he could build a wooden house on the moon or Mars” and decided to test this theory by creating a wooden satellite, reports CNN.

Recent research by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has shown that 10% of the atmospheric aerosol in the stratosphere contains metallic particles from spacecraft, including satellites. The long-term effects of these metal fragments are unknown, but scientists are concerned that they could damage the Earth’s fragile ozone layer.

Wooden satellites would be better for the planet, but still provide the same functionality as their metal counterparts, Murata says.

Murata and his team worked on the project for four years and sent wood samples into space in 2021 to test the material’s resistance to space conditions.

They are currently working with the Japan Space Agency (JAXA) and NASA to send a prototype satellite called LingoSat into orbit early next year.

“At the end of their lives, satellites re-enter the atmosphere. The difference is that the wood in LingoSat will burn and eventually turn into a gas, while the metals will instead become small particles,” says Murata.

“When you use wood on Earth, you have problems with burning, rotting and warping, but in space you don’t have these problems: there is no oxygen in space, so it doesn’t burn, and there are no living things that can rot. ,” he says.

What wood did Murata try for his companion

The team’s tests on the International Space Station have shown that wood is extremely durable in outer space.

For the satellite, Murata tested three types of wood: Ermann’s birch (Betula ermanii) – commonly found in East Asia, Japanese cherry and shoe magnolia – native to Japan. While cypress and cedar would be more common types of wood for construction, the team “chose materials that could withstand as much detail work as possible” because of the small size of the satellites, Murata says.

Magnolia wood was ultimately chosen because its cells are small and uniform in size, making the wood easier to work with and less likely to split, he says.

LingoSat will not be the first project to create a wooden satellite

Finnish startup Arctic Astronautics has developed a wooden satellite WISA Woodsat, which was supposed to be launched into space in 2021. However, company founder Jari Myakinen says the launch has been delayed due to bureaucratic hurdles.

“The satellite is ready and waiting to be reassembled when the time comes,” Myakinen told CNN in an email, adding that once the company receives its space operations license, the satellite will be launched using RocketLab’s private launch vehicle.

At Khalifa University in the United Arab Emirates, aerospace engineer Yarjan Abdul Samad is looking at graphene, a compound of carbon, as a potential material for space objects. Samad is researching “nano-wood” – low-density wood combined with graphene to increase strength.

People have been putting satellites into orbit since the 1950s, and in the last decade, as commercial launches have become more affordable, the number of satellites launched has increased dramatically.

However, there are still many unknowns about wood in space structures, says Tatsuhito Fujita, a JAXA engineer who was involved in reviewing the LingoSat project.

“Using natural resources for space equipment (makes sense) in terms of sustainability goals, but since wood has never been used in satellites, we can’t say what benefit we can get at this point,” says Fujita.

For JAXA and the J-Cube program, the satellite launch initiative, safety is a priority — and LingoSat has passed preliminary evaluations with no critical concerns, Fujita says.

LingoSat is in the final stages of safety testing and is expected to launch as part of a joint JAXA-NASA mission in the summer of 2024. Murata says they will observe the satellite for at least six months to see how it performs in space. conditions such as extreme temperature changes in space.