Sophomore Uses Origami to Open New Era for Space Technology

Solution Found for Problem That Has Been Hindering Collapsible Space Structures
A second-year student at an American university, Zhongyuan Wang, has discovered a fundamentally new origami scheme that could radically change the design of space telescopes and satellites. His development, which combines mathematical elegance and practical applicability, has already been recognized as revolutionary by leading world experts.

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It is reported that the revolution in spacecraft design was made by a second-year student of the university Zhongyuan Wang, who discovered a fundamentally new family of origami models. His development, called "bloom patterns" for their resemblance to a blossoming bud, has three unique properties that remained unattainable for engineers for decades: complete rotational symmetry, the ability to fold into a perfectly flat structure, and production from a single sheet of material without cuts or joints.
The secret of these patterns, it is explained, lies in their geometric structure: they consist of a ring of wedges attached around a central polygon, reminiscent of the aperture of a camera. When folded, these wedges elegantly overlap each other, creating a complex but mathematically flawless structure. Before this discovery, no origami pattern existed that combined all three critical properties at once, making the “flower patterns” a veritable holy grail for engineers and mathematicians.
“I love doing origami, but if I could use it to create practical applications that benefit the world, that would be ideal,” the student said.
Wang had accidentally folded several prototypes of his “flower patterns” a few years ago, but didn’t think much of it at the time. It was only years later, when he entered university and began working under the guidance of physicists, that he realized the value of his discovery. The culmination was a meeting with American origami theorist Robert Lang, who visited the university’s lab in December 2024. Upon seeing Wang’s patterns, the renowned origami master was amazed: “I don’t remember seeing anything like this before.”
It is noted that the researchers have already managed to create working prototypes from various materials - paper, plastic and even aluminum. According to the university, there are theoretically an infinite number of variations of these patterns waiting to be studied. But the most important thing is their potential application in the space industry. "Flower patterns" are ideal for creating compact folding structures that can be launched into space in a folded state and then deployed in orbit.
“These could be giant solar panels, deployable antennas, or mirror segments for next-generation telescopes that are too large to launch fully assembled,” the experts explain.
According to origami expert Tomohiro Tachi, the team’s key contribution is to create a generalizable method for generating these patterns. This opens up incredible possibilities for scientists, engineers, and designers around the world. The applications go beyond space — such designs could revolutionize food packaging, the creation of foldable furniture, or even medical implants that can be inserted into the body in a folded state.
"We can create something new that no one has done before. But at the same time, we create these beautiful forms," the researchers formulated their discovery.
