Mission “Samudrayan”

In News

• Recently, India’s First Manned Ocean Mission “Samudrayan” was launched in Chennai by Union Minister Jitendra Singh. 

About 

• With the launch of this Unique Ocean Mission, India joins the elite club of nations such as the USA, Russia, Japan, France and China to have such underwater vehicles for carrying out subsea activities. 
• A new chapter opens to explore ocean resources for drinking water, clean energy & blue economy.

• Matsya 6000 
  • The Matsya 6000 is the deepwater manned submersible under the Samudrayan initiative.
    • It is capable of carrying three human beings in a titanium alloy personnel sphere of a 2.1-metre diameter enclosed space with an endurance of 12 hours and an additional 96 hours in case of an emergency situation.
    • The preliminary design of the manned submersible MATSYA 6000 is completed and realization of the vehicle is started with various organizations including ISRO, IITM and DRDO roped-in to support the development.
    • The MATSYA 6000, will be ready for trials by the second quarter of 2024. 

• Significance: 
  • The mission increases the scientific capacity and this niche technology shall facilitate the Ministry of Earth Sciences, MoES in carrying out deep ocean exploration of the non-living resources such as polymetallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydro-thermal sulphides and cobalt crusts, located at a depth between 1000 and 5500 meters.
  • The advancing technologies in metallurgy, energy storage, underwater navigation and manufacturing facilities provide opportunities for developing more efficient, reliable and safe manned submersibles. 

Source: PIB