Spacecrafts cannot be repaired and have to survive 15 years in a harsh environment ; so, design, use and procurement of M&P is very conservative, leaving few “space” for new materials, suppliers, or sustainability.

The situation is improving and the use of sustainable materials in Space is now better considered. This is not only for image and fashion. When some bio sourced materials show real competitive advantages, the idea of using them in spacecraft design pops up. The goal of this paper is to show how sustainability can be merged with real technical advantages.

It will show that Bamboo fibers offer outstanding thermal and damping properties making them able to replace glass fibers in thermal washers or struts. In some conditions, Flax fibers can also replace Carbon fibers when moderate mechanical loads are requested, e.g. for nanosat side panels.

For low earth orbit missions, thanks to a low melting temperature, side panels are demised during re entry and burn quickly, making easier the plasma flux to heat all the spacecraft interior. The casualty risk on ground due to non burned fragments is then highly reduced – ceramics or titaniums requesting of course special care.

Bamboo and flax crops are also more and more located in Europe, even if bamboos still grow mostly in Asia. Anyway, no disruption or obsolescence risk exist. There also show very few risks of export control or license issues.

The conclusion is that, allied with good environmental footprint, absence of market disruption issue, and nice features for debris mitigation, biobased materials can be used to replace well known and reputed materials, paving the way of more sustainable spacecrafts. The last challenge is to confirm their good properties and behaviour in space, to be assessed by in situ tests in low earth orbit experiences