Can the World's First Wooden Satellite Withstand the Space Environment?

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced that it would be putting the world's first wooden satellite into orbit this year. This is a product of innovation to address the need to build and launch satellites at a cheaper rate.

This wooden satellite is called the WISA Woodsat, designed by the Finnish company Arctic Astronautics, which provides CubeSat kits for students.

According to Space.com, the WISA Woodsat is already preparing for its launch that will test how plywood can withstand the space environment. ESA also announced that their material experts are contributing a suite of experimental sensors to the mission and will also help in the pre-flight testing.

@Tikkurila is a leading maker of surface treatment solutions. They’ll use their knowledge of paints for making the color calibration card for the @wisawoodsat and we’ll use their varnish for coating of some of the plywood panels. We’re super happy having them aboard the mission! pic.twitter.com/YkGfYf0L4i
— Kitsat / WISA Woodsat (@kitsatellite) June 13, 2021

WISA Woodsat: The World's First Wooden Satellite

WISA Woodsat is a nanosatellite that measures 4 by 4 by 4 inches (10 by 10 by 10 centimeters) and weighs about 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram). The unique thing about this CubeSat is that its surface panels are made from a special type of coated plywood, called WISA.

The wooden satellite is set to launch this year as part of a mission that aims to test the behavior and durability of these plywood panels in extreme conditions in space and to evaluate their possible suitability for future space missions.

It will also carry two cameras; wherein one will be attached to a metal selfie stick to let scientists observe how the plywood surface would change in the space environment.

According to Slashgear, the plywood used in the satellite is birch, the same kind that is typically found in hardware stores. But they modified it by placing it in a thermal vacuum chamber to dry out and added an extremely thin aluminum oxide layer using atomic layer deposition to lessen unwanted vapors while it is in space.

The team will also be testing different kinds of varnish and lacquer on some sections of the wood to test which will be the best to use on the wooden satellite.

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How Can the WISA Woodsat Survive in Outer Space?

The aluminum oxide on the plywood will help prevent the wood from releasing any gas in outer space and will also protect it from corrosive atomic oxygen that can be found in the fringes of the Earth's atmosphere. according to Space.com.

Arctic Astronauts said that if the WISA Woodsat survives the extreme environment of outer space, the atomic oxygen will likely darken the plywood panels.

Moreover, the wooden satellite will also carry pressure sensors, aside from the two cameras, that will measure the pressure in onboard cavities, especially on the first days that it will be in orbit.

ESA also said that the wooden satellite would run an experiment that will test the use of a new 3D-printed electrically conductive plastic material.

WISA Woodsat's Successful Stratospheric Test Flight

WISA Woodsat announced on Monday, June 14, that it had completed its stratospheric flight last Saturday, June 12. One of the wooden satellite's test models was sent on a flight from the Heureka Science Center in Vantaa, Finland, to do a test flight to assess its systems and test the crucial camera functions.

The test flight lasted for two hours and 54 minutes and reached a maximum altitude in the upper atmosphere at 31.2 km (19.3 miles) over the city of Mäntsälä. As expected, the balloon burst and the wooden satellite model descended under a parachute and landed safely in a forest.

In summary, the test flight was successful, and the recovery team was able to locate it, which has landed on top of a high spruce tree.