SpaceX may launch biodegradable wooden satellite made of magnolia to combat ozone layer damage

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is a prime candidate to launch the first biodegradable satellite made of wood into orbit this summer. The goal is to develop a viable alternative to the aluminum particles that current satellites leave floating for years upon their re-entry. They will soon be launched at a pace of 2,500 units per year and exotic metal particles in the upper atmosphere would quickly accumulate to become an environmental problem.

Currently, aluminum and rare metals from satellites and rockets that re-enter to burn in the Earth's atmosphere are already 10% of all the aerosol particles at the stratospheric level. In the future, this share is expected to rise to 50% if we keep launching Starlink and other satellites at the scheduled pace, creating the next major threat to the ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful UV rays.

That is why NASA and Kyoto University researchers like Koji Murata partnered with Sumitomo Forestry logging company in Japan while looking for biodegradable satellite alternatives. After testing many types of wood at the International Space Station, the team chose magnolia for the so-called LignoSat 2's body:

Despite the extreme environment of outer space involving significant temperature changes and exposure to intense cosmic rays and dangerous solar particles for ten months, tests confirmed no decomposition or deformations, such as cracking, warping, peeling, or surface damage.

The tiny cube satellite probe that is the size of a coffee mug will now be loaded on one of the next space cargo missions of NASA provided by SpaceX or the Orbital Sciences Cygnus supply ship, and launched in low earth orbit. The scientists will be examining how the LignoSat 2 wooden satellite fares in terms of structural integrity of the magnolia tree it will be built with, as well as how its ashes will fare upon re-entry.

Get the new Starlink Standard Kit dish at Best Buy