A rendering of the WISA Woodsat in orbit (Image: UPM Plywood)
The world’s first wooden satellite is set to go to space this year thanks to the efforts of Finnish company UPM Plywood, Arctic Astronautics and Huld.
The wooden nanosatellite, named WISA Woodsat, is expected to “go where no wood has gone before” by the end of 2021, as per a on May 12.
It was created to gather data on the “behavior and durability of plywood over an extended period in the harsh temperatures, vacuum and radiation of space in order to assess the use of wood materials in space structures.”
Artic Astronautics, which designed WISA Woodsat, based its structure after its Kitsat educational satellite, according to the release.
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY
“UPM’s mission as a company is to create a future beyond fossils. WISA Woodsat is made of plywood and it carries a profound message of replacing fossils with renewable wood-based materials also in very demanding applications. Houston, we have a solution,” said Ari Voutilainen, the space project manager for UPM Plywood.
WISA Woodsat measures around 10 by 10 by 10 cm and weighs 1 kg, according to UPM. It is equipped with several onboard sensors including two cameras that will be used to monitor the WISA Birch plywood.
