Feasibility of Capillary-Driven Orbital Liquid Mirror Telescopes
Abstract
Space-based liquid mirror telescopes (LMTs) have been recently proposed to overcome the scaling limits of traditional rigid mirrors. In these new space architectures, capillary forces would shape a reflective liquid into a spherical optical surface in microgravity. However, the equilibrium, stability, and dynamic behavior of such liquid interfaces under orbital perturbations remain largely uncharacterized. This study investigates the feasibility of space LMTs by combining axisymmetric capillary with thin-film models. Solar radiation pressure and self-gravitation are found to be the dominant perturbations in Sun--Earth L2 orbits, causing equilibrium deformations that exceed the λ/20 optical threshold at apertures above 0.86 m for visible (λ= 380 nm) and 1.58 m for near-infrared observatories (λ= 2.5 μm). Micrometeoroid impacts self-heal within seconds to minutes, settling after filling requires years to decades at large apertures, and propulsive maneuvers breach optical limits within seconds to hours. These results highlight the need for interface control in large-scale systems such as NASA's 50 m Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE). Thermocapillary actuation supports apertures of 2.3/8.0 m (VIS/NIR) at 100 μK and 10.6/37.7 m at 10 μK. Simultaneously, parasitic Marangoni flows impose sub-mK uniformity for NIR and 1--100 μK for visible operation on any capillary LMT. Departing the capillary regime by imposing a surface-normal settling acceleration, ranging from 39 mm s−2 (NIR,5 m) to 17 m s−2 (VIS,50 m), is the most promising route to tens of meters in aperture. This approach enables a passive implementation effectively suppressing perturbation induced interface distortions and thermal Marangoni flows. Keywords: Liquid mirror telescope, Optics, Space
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{dietrich2026feasibility,
title = {{Feasibility of Capillary-Driven Orbital Liquid Mirror Telescopes}},
author = {Janoah Dietrich and Álvaro Romero-Calvo},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.31042},
eprint = {2608.31042},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.31042},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Feasibility of Capillary-Driven Orbital Liquid Mirror Telescopes
AU - Janoah Dietrich
AU - Álvaro Romero-Calvo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/07
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.31042
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.31042
AB - Space-based liquid mirror telescopes (LMTs) have been recently proposed to overcome the scaling limits of traditional rigid mirrors. In these new space architectures, capillary forces would shape a reflective liquid into a spherical optical surface in microgravity. However, the equilibrium, stability, and dynamic behavior of such liquid interfaces under orbital perturbations remain largely uncharacterized. This study investigates the feasibility of space LMTs by combining axisymmetric capillary with thin-film models. Solar radiation pressure and self-gravitation are found to be the dominant perturbations in Sun--Earth L2 orbits, causing equilibrium deformations that exceed the λ/20 optical threshold at apertures above 0.86 m for visible (λ= 380 nm) and 1.58 m for near-infrared observatories (λ= 2.5 μm). Micrometeoroid impacts self-heal within seconds to minutes, settling after filling requires years to decades at large apertures, and propulsive maneuvers breach optical limits within seconds to hours. These results highlight the need for interface control in large-scale systems such as NASA's 50 m Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE). Thermocapillary actuation supports apertures of 2.3/8.0 m (VIS/NIR) at 100 μK and 10.6/37.7 m at 10 μK. Simultaneously, parasitic Marangoni flows impose sub-mK uniformity for NIR and 1--100 μK for visible operation on any capillary LMT. Departing the capillary regime by imposing a surface-normal settling acceleration, ranging from 39 mm s^−2 (NIR,5 m) to 17 m s^−2 (VIS,50 m), is the most promising route to tens of meters in aperture. This approach enables a passive implementation effectively suppressing perturbation induced interface distortions and thermal Marangoni flows. Keywords: Liquid mirror telescope, Optics, Space
ER -