The Samudrayaan Mission aims to create a self-propelled manned submersible capable of transporting three humans to a depth of 6000 meters in the ocean, together with a set of scientific instruments and equipment for deep ocean research.
It has an operational endurance of 12 hours and an emergency endurance of 96 hours.
The piloted submersible will allow scientists to directly examine and study undiscovered deep-water locations.
It will also improve the capability for developing deep sea man-rated vehicles. The anticipated timescale spans five years, from 2020-2021 to 2025-2026.
The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, an autonomous institute within the MoES, has produced a 6000m depth rated Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and a variety of other underwater devices such as Autonomous Coring System (ACS), Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and Deep-Sea Mining System (DSM) for the exploration of deep sea.
It is India’s first unique manned ocean mission and is a part of the Rs 6000-crores Deep Ocean Mission.
The submersible features a spherical titanium hull, which is crucial for withstanding the immense pressure at great depths. The titanium hull is manufactured by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), as no commercial fabricators in India were capable of producing such a hull.
November 22, 2023 Lucy Mission