When launching satellites, probes, telescopes, and manned spacecraft into orbit, volume is everything. Because rockets need to fly through the atmosphere at supersonic speeds, payloads need to be packed into sleek, aerodynamic fairings at the tip of the rocket. A typical fairing has a diameter of just 5 meters. Carrying up large structures like solar panels and telescope mirrors requires the use of compact folding for launch.

Origami is already used heavily in the space industry. To name just one example, the Ultraflex Solar Array used on the Mars Phoenix Lander deploys by unfolding many isosceles triangles into a circle.

Our project goal is to develop the concept of origami in space further, by making the structures (1) self-folding and self-unfolding, and (2) produced biologically, which allows for in-situ resource utilization. We envision many possible uses for BiOrigami. Repositories of hundreds of different structures could be sent on manned missions flat-packed as reams of paper for on-demand use by astronauts. Self-folding structures could be used to deploy inflatable habitats, solar arrays, sun shields, and more. Small, self-unfolding paper-based probes could be dispersed around the Martian surface and relay weather information, relying on solar power.

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