Samudrayaan mission: India's deep-sea submersible prepares for trials after safety revisions

The Samudrayaan mission is India's ambitious project to send a manned submersible to a depth of 6,000 meters in the ocean.

Dr. GA Ramadass, director of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), discusses the mission's progress.

Initially, three humans will be sent to a depth of 500 meters as part of the Samudrayaan mission trial.

Samudrayaan mission launch date: The mission is on track to be realized by 2026, with deep-sea trials for 6,000 meters starting in late 2025.

NIOT has developed an indigenous submersible, MATSYA-6000, to explore deep ocean mineral resources rich in nickel, manganese, cobalt, and rare earth elements.

The Samudrayaan mission will place India in an elite club of nations with submersibles capable of conducting sub-sea activities at great depths, alongside the US, Russia, Japan, France, and China.

The government has allocated a budget of span class='webrupee'₹/span4,077 crore for five years for the Deep Ocean Mission, supporting the Samudrayaan project.

In light of the Titan submersible disaster, Dr. Ramadass emphasizes that the specifications of the submersible have been revisited to ensure safety.

The Titan incident, which claimed five lives on its way to explore the sunk wreckage of the tragic Titanic ocean liner, underscores the importance of certified and classed submersibles, a lesson that the Samudrayaan mission has taken to heart.