Shaping liquids into space structures - microgravity-assisted design and manufacturing of minimal surfaces

Abstract

This work advances a fundamentally new approach to space-based construction by using liquid self organization in microgravity as a generative design and fabrication principle. Building on the LiquiFab method, we demonstrate how minimal surface architectures - traditionally dependent on complex additive manufacturing - can instead emerge directly from the physics of fluid interfaces shaped by programmable boundary conditions. We present a simulation-to-fabrication workflow, that includes a boundary-driven minimal-surface solver integrated in Grasshopper/Rhino, and an experimental system that implements in a neutral buoyancy environment simulating microgravity. This enables the generation of customizable Schwarz-P-inspired with tunable geometry and thickness, illustrating a scalable pathway for material-efficient, on-orbit fabrication. To validate performance in true microgravity, a flight experiment on the International Space Station is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027 and we here detail the additional considerations required for this experiment.