A team of researchers want to put into orbit a wooden satellite and the idea is not as far-fetched as one might think.
The results of a recent test aboard the International Space Station (ISS), in which different types of wood were exposed to the vacuum of space, have been confirmed by the project’s research team at Kyoto University in Japan.
In effect, results indicate that the wood is remarkably resistant even in the outer space environment 
.
Despite the extreme environment of outer space, with significant temperature swings and exposure to intense cosmic rays and dangerous solar particles for ten months, tests have confirmed that there is no deterioration or deformation such as cracking, warping, chipping or damage to the surface.
The experiment served as preliminary research for the LignoSat international association, led by Kyoto University, which designed a wooden satellite whose joint launch by the Japanese space agency (JAXA) and NASA is scheduled for next year.
The project started in April 2020, as a collaboration between Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry.
The wood’s ability to withstand simulated low-Earth orbit – or LEO – conditions surprised us. We want to see if we can accurately estimate the effects of LEO’s harsh environment on organic materials.
To test these effects, a small panel containing three different wood samples was launched to the ISS to be stored in the station’s Japanese experimental Kibo module, where it was exposed to space for ten months in 2022.
The wooden panel was recovered by JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata and returned to Earth aboard SpaceX’s CRS-26 Dragon cargo spacecraft in January 2023, and project scientists are celebrating its success.
Of all the woods tested, the LignoSat team opted to carry out the project using the magnolia wooddue to your “relatively high workability, dimensional stability and overall strength”.
If wood really does become a viable alternative for satellite manufacturing, it has some potential advantages over the typical metal alloys used in construction today. In the first place, is more respectful of the environment. It’s easier, cheaper and cleaner to produce, and it’s much more disposable when it comes to the end of a satellite’s life.
When they leave their orbit, satellites and the components from which they are assembled typically burn up mostly, if not entirely, in the Earth’s atmosphere. The parts that don’t burn fall into remote areas of the ocean.
Wooden satellites would completely burn up during atmospheric reentry, and if small dummy wooden fragments survived the fall, they would easily decompose wherever they landed on Earth.