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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →LignoSat is a 10-centimeter CubeSat built by Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry with a Japanese honoki (magnolia) wooden enclosure. Its first unit launched in November 2024, was released from the International Space Station (ISS), and operated in orbit for a reported four-month mission. The flight showed that a wood-based satellite structure can function in the vacuum of space, but reliable communication with ground stations was not achieved.
What makes LignoSat a wooden satellite?
LignoSat is not a spacecraft made entirely of wood. The wood forms its structural enclosure, while some metal components remain necessary to meet the ISS small-satellite deployment mechanism’s requirements. Calling it an all-wood satellite would therefore be misleading.
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The project began in 2020 as a collaboration between Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry. The completed spacecraft is a 100-millimeter cube in the CubeSat class. Engineers selected honoki, a Japanese magnolia valued for workability and dimensional stability.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Its panels are about 4 millimeters thick. The enclosure uses a traditional Japanese interlocking dovetail-style technique rather than conventional fasteners. Avoiding fasteners with different thermal-expansion behavior was intended to reduce stress as the satellite moved through severe temperature changes.
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- HOBBY MODEL KIT – Unassembled model packed in an envelope with easy to follow instructions. Ideal for ages 14 and up.
- NO GLUE OR SOLDER NEEDED – Parts can be easily clipped from the metal sheets. Tweezers are the recommended tool for bending and twisting the connection tabs.
- VOYAGER – 1.5 Sheet Model with a moderate difficulty level. Assembled Size: 1.38 x 1.77 x 6.70 inches.
- FROM STEEL SHEETS TO 3D – Pop out the pieces and connect using tabs and holes. Includes illustrated instructions.
- HIGHLY DETAILED ETCHED MODEL – Display your 3D model once completed - collect and build them all.
JapanGov reports that craftsmen produced the panels to tolerances as fine as 0.1 millimeter. The design combines traditional joinery with the electrical, structural and deployment hardware required for an orbital spacecraft.
Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry’s May 2024 handover announcement describes the completed unit and its construction.
Why test wood in space?
Before building the flight unit, the team exposed wood samples outside the ISS. Kyoto University says three specimens spent more than 240 days on the station’s Kibo module in 2022. A preliminary inspection found no visible deformation or mass change after exposure to temperature swings and cosmic radiation.
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The university also reports strength testing and elemental and crystal-structure analyses. Those results support the stability of the tested samples under that particular exposure. They do not prove that every wood species, joint, spacecraft design or long-duration mission will perform identically.
The exposure work is documented in Kyoto University’s January 2024 research report.
What happened on LignoSat’s first mission?
- Launch: The first unit traveled from Kennedy Space Center to the ISS in November 2024.
- Deployment: Astronauts released it from the station into orbit.
- Operations: JapanGov reports that it orbited for four months and completed its mission.
- Primary result: The wooden structure operated in the vacuum of space, establishing a feasibility demonstration.
The mission’s main shortcoming was communications. Reliable links with the ground were not established. Project leader Takao Doi attributed the suspected problem to software and a malfunction involving antenna deployment, rather than presenting the flight as a complete communications success.
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- HOBBY MODEL KIT – Unassembled model packed in an envelope with easy to follow instructions. Ideal for ages 14 and up
- NO GLUE OR SOLDER NEEDED – Parts can be easily clipped from the metal sheets. Tweezers are the recommended tool for bending and twisting the connection tabs
- APOLLO CSM – 3.5 Sheet Model with a challenging difficulty level. Assembled Size: 5.07 L x 2.28 W x 3.45 H inches.
- FROM STEEL SHEETS TO 3D – Pop out the pieces and connect using tabs and holes. Includes illustrated instructions
- HIGHLY DETAILED ETCHED MODEL – Display your 3D model once completed - collect and build them all
“While the trouble we had establishing reliable communication with the ground has yet to be resolved, we achieved our primary objective: to determine whether a wooden satellite can indeed operate in the vacuum of space.”
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Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.Takao Doi, quoted by the Government of Japan
The full mission account appears in JapanGov’s April 2026 feature.
LignoSat’s key facts at a glance
| Item | What is established |
|---|---|
| Developers | Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry |
| Form factor | 100 mm CubeSat |
| Wood | Japanese honoki (magnolia) |
| Wood’s role | Structural enclosure; some metal hardware remains |
| Joinery | Traditional interlocking construction intended to avoid thermal-expansion stress from mixed fasteners |
| Preflight exposure test | More than 240 days on the ISS, with no reported deformation or mass change in preliminary inspection |
| First orbital mission | Launched in November 2024; reported four-month mission after ISS deployment |
| Communications | Reliable ground communication was not achieved |
Could wooden satellites reduce environmental impact?
The project is partly motivated by what happens when satellites reenter the atmosphere. Metal structures can generate alumina particles, and Kyoto Prefecture describes reducing that potential impact as an expected benefit of wooden construction.
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- HOBBY MODEL KIT – Unassembled model packed in an envelope with easy to follow instructions. Ideal for ages 14 and up.
- NO GLUE OR SOLDER NEEDED – Parts can be easily clipped from the metal sheets. Tweezers are the recommended tool for bending and twisting the connection tabs.
- JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE - 2.75 Sheet Model with a moderate difficulty level. Assembled Size: 4.13 L x 2.75 W x 2.75 H inches. 1:221 Scale. 62 Pieces
- FROM STEEL SHEETS TO 3D – Pop out the pieces and connect using tabs and holes. Includes illustrated instructions.
- HIGHLY DETAILED ETCHED MODEL – Display your 3D model once completed - collect and build them all.
No source cited here reports a measured LignoSat reentry emissions comparison or a quantified climate benefit. The environmental case remains a design motivation and possible future advantage, not a demonstrated result from this mission.
Doi told JapanGov: “With projections of 10,000 to 100,000 satellite launches every year, the accumulation of these alumina particles could exert a substantial negative impact on the climate and on aviation infrastructure.” Those figures are his projections, not an observed annual launch count.
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Wood also brings engineering questions that future missions must answer, including behavior over longer durations, in larger structures and under different radiation, thermal and mechanical loads.
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- HOBBY MODEL KIT – Unassembled model packed in an envelope with easy to follow instructions. Ideal for ages 14 and up.
- NO GLUE OR SOLDER NEEDED – Parts can be easily clipped from the metal sheets. Tweezers are the recommended tool for bending and twisting the connection tabs.
- HUBBLE TELESCOPE – 1 Sheet Model with a moderate difficulty level. Assembled Size: 3.00 x 2.00 x 2.50 inches.
- FROM STEEL SHEETS TO 3D – Pop out the pieces and connect using tabs and holes. Includes illustrated instructions.
- HIGHLY DETAILED ETCHED MODEL – Display your 3D model once completed - collect and build them all.
What comes next for LignoSat?
LignoSat-1R
As described by JapanGov in April 2026, the team was improving a second unit, LignoSat-1R, to address the suspected software and antenna-deployment problems. Its launch was slated for fiscal year 2027. That schedule is a plan and may change.
LignoSat-2
A third design, LignoSat-2, was described as planned to use a flat communications antenna stored inside the spacecraft. This is also a proposed design, not an operational satellite or a completed service.
Potential applications
Researchers have discussed a disaster-resilient satellite network that could communicate directly from orbit if terrestrial radio towers were destroyed. Lunar or Martian tree-growing and timber construction have likewise been raised as long-term research visions. Neither application has been demonstrated by LignoSat.
Kyoto University’s 2025 development account provides additional context on the student team and design decisions. Kyoto Prefecture’s project description is available at its LignoSat exhibition page.
What the achievement actually proves
LignoSat proved a limited but important point: a satellite using a honoki wooden enclosure can survive launch, deployment and operation in the vacuum of space for the reported duration. It did not prove that wood can replace all spacecraft metals, that communications are solved, or that a measurable environmental benefit has already been delivered.
The next units will show whether the team can turn that structural demonstration into a reliably communicating spacecraft and, eventually, a repeatable platform for missions where reduced metal use has a clear engineering or environmental payoff.
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