Samudrayaan Mission is aimed to develop a self-propelled manned submersible to carry 3 human beings to a water depth of 6000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools for deep ocean exploration. It has an endurance of 12 hours of operational period and 96 hours in case of emergency.
The manned submersible will allow scientific personnel to observe and understand unexplored deep-sea areas by direct interventions. Further, it will enhance the capability for deep-sea man-rated vehicle development.
The projected timeline is five years for the period 2020-2021 to 2025-2026.
National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, an autonomous institute under MoES, has developed 6000m depth rated Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and various other underwater instruments such as Autonomous Coring System (ACS), Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and Deep-Sea Mining System (DSM) for the exploration of the deep sea.
This information was given by the Minister of State (I/C) for M/o Earth Sciences and M/o Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.