The first satellite with wooden panels was launched into space

Earth’s first wood-paneled satellite has been launched into space to test the suitability of wood as a renewable building material for future exploration of places like the Moon and Mars.

Developed by researchers in Japan, a small satellite weighing just 900g is headed to the International Space Station on a SpaceX mission. After that it will be released into orbit above the Earth.

Named LignoSat, after the Latin word for wood, its panels are made from a type of magnolia tree, using a traditional technique without screws or glue.

Kyoto University researchers who developed it hope that in the future it may be possible to replace some instruments used in surveying with wood.

“Wood lasts longer in space than on Earth because there is no water or oxygen to decompose or burn it,” said the Kyoto University forest scientist. Professor Koji Murata told Reuters news agency.

“At the beginning of the 1900s, airplanes were made of wood,” said Prof Murata. “A wooden satellite should be possible, too.”

If trees can one day be planted on the Moon or Mars, the wood may also provide material for space colonies in the future, researchers hope.

Along with its wooden panels, LignoSat also incorporates traditional aluminum structures and electronic components. It has sensors on board to monitor how its wood reacts to the most dangerous environment during the six months it will orbit the Earth.

Dr Simeon Barber, a space scientist at the Open University in the UK, said: “We have to be clear that this is not a satellite made entirely of wood… but the basic premise of this idea is really interesting.

“From a sustainability perspective, wood is something that cannot be planted and is therefore renewable,” he told the BBC.

“The idea that you might be able to grow wood on another planet to help you explore the area or make shelters – explorers have always used wood to make shelters when they went to a new land.”

Dr Barber said this is not the first time that wood has been used in space.

“We use wood – cork – in re-entry, the outer shell of spacecraft to help them survive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.”

Russian and Soviet moon landings used cork to help the rover grip as it descended, he added.

“There is nothing wrong with using wood in space – using the right material to do the right job.”

He pointed out that wood has properties that are difficult to control.

“So from an engineering point of view it’s a really difficult thing to work with… I think wood will always have trouble making critical structures like parts of spacecraft where you need to predict how strong it’s going to be.”

Researchers at Kyoto University hope that using wood to make spaceships may also be less polluting than steel when they burn up and re-enter at the end of their life.

Experts have warned of the growing threat of space debris falling on Earth, as more spacecraft and satellites are launched.

Dr Barber agreed that the space industry was under increasing pressure from pollution but was skeptical that using wooden spacecraft would provide the answer.

“Actually having things like firewood can reduce those metal pollutants… But you might end up taking other things in the first place to burn on the way down.”