Samudrayaan to take Indian aquanauts 500 metres under sea in 2023

India will send three explorers to a depth of 500 metres under the sea in an indigenously built vessel, Samudrayaan, this year. According to an official, the steel sphere that will house the aquanauts for their journey has already been designed by engineers at the National Institute of Ocean Technology in Chennai.

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However, difficulty in procuring the titanium sphere capable of withstanding pressure at those depths could delay the plan to send the Samudrayaan to 6,000 metres deep into the sea.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Indian Science Congress underway in Maharashtra's Nagpur, the official, on conditions of anonymity, explained that titanium is the metal of choice because a steel sphere would crumple under pressure if it cruises beyond a depth of 500 metres.

Without elaborating, the official said that no country was ready to part with critical and exclusive technologies (required for the project). The Ukraine conflict has further aggravated the situation, the official added.

India has also set its eyes on achieving human spaceflight by the end of next year. The timeline of human spaceflight had to be pushed because of the Ukraine conflict. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to carry out an uncrewed mission to test and validate technologies for the Gaganyaan mission this year.  

ISRO chairman S Somanath said, "It is not like sending a satellite to orbit. We cannot take chances when it comes to human beings. We are being cautious and careful. Globally, it took about 10 years for countries to develop human space flight capability, which we are doing in four."  

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• Chennai
• Indian Science Congress
• Maharashtra
• Nagpur
• National Institute of Ocean Technology
• Samudrayaan
• sphere
• titanium