8 November 2024 The first-ever wooden satellite, called LignoSat, arrived at the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule on Nov. 5 to perform some key in-space tests. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The world's first wooden satellite, LignoSat, developed by scientists at Kyoto University and the logging company Sumitomo Forestry, is shown during a press conference at Kyoto University on May 28, 2024. (Image credit: STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images) This new spaceflight tech has a very retro feel. The world's first wooden satellite, a tiny Japanese spacecraft called LignoSat, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday (Nov. 5) aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. LignoSat measures just 4 inches (10 centimeters) on each side, but it could end up having a big impact on spaceflight and exploration down the road. "While some of you might think that wood in space seems a little counterintuitive, researchers hope this investigation demonstrates that a wooden satellite can be more sustainable and less polluting for the environment than conventional satellites," Meghan Everett, the deputy chief scientist for NASA's International Space Station program, said in a press briefing on Monday (Nov. 4), a few hours before the Dragon capsule lifted off. Conventional satellites are made primarily of aluminum. When they burn up in Earth's atmosphere at the end of their lives, they generate aluminum oxides, which can alter the planet's thermal balance and damage its protective ozone layer.