Samudrayaan mission explained: All about India's first underwater mission Matsya 6000

Samudrayaan mission: After a successful touchdown on the lunar surface, Chandrayaan-3 and the Aditya L1 mission to study the Sun, India is planning to send three humans in 6 km ocean depth in its first manned deep ocean mission 'Samudrayaan', Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Monday.

Union Minister Rijiju inspected 'MATSYA 6000', a manned submersible that will explore the depths of the Ocean as part of mission 'Samudrayaan'. The submersible is being developed at the National Institute of Ocean Technology in Chennai. Once commissioned, three humans will be able to go into ocean depth to study the deep sea resources and biodiversity assessment.

Next is "Samudrayaan"
This is 'MATSYA 6000' submersible under construction at National Institute of Ocean Technology at Chennai. India’s first manned Deep Ocean Mission ‘Samudrayaan’ plans to send 3 humans in 6-km ocean depth in a submersible, to study the deep sea resources and… pic.twitter.com/aHuR56esi7

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) September 11, 2023

What is India’s Samudrayaan mission?
The first manned submersible’Matsya 6000’ is being designed to send 6 km (6000 m) underwater to study the deep ocean resources such as precious metals and minerals. The Samudrayaan mission's ocean craft Matsya 6000 being developed by the NIOT Chennai will take a dip in the Bay Of Bengal next year. 

A submersible called ‘Matsya 6000’ will undergo trials in the Bay of Bengal in early 2024. The team of scientists is looking into the design cautiously after the implosion of the Titan submersible which took tourists into the Titanic Wreckage in the North Atlantic Ocean in April 2023. 

The mission has been designed to last 12 hours under regular operation and 96 hours during a crisis. Samudrayaan will take 3 scientists into the ocean to study to look for precious minerals and metals like nickel, cobalt and manganese. Two passengers will be lying prostrate and one Titanium Alloy operator who will be able to withstand water pressure will be aboard the Matsya 6000 Submersible. At 6000 meters, where the pressure will be more than 600 times greater than at sea level, the passengers will be able to communicate with the researchers using acoustic waves.

The mission will unlock deep ocean mysteries and if successful, will put India in an elite club of nations in developing technology and vehicles to carry out sub-sea activities including the US, Russia, Japan, France and China.