Why in the News?

Two Indian aquanauts dived over 5,000 m in the Atlantic aboard French vessel Nautile, as part of India’s Samudrayaan Mission.

What is Deep Ocean Mission (DOM)?

Approved: 2021 by the Union Cabinet, with a budget of ₹4,077 crore for 5 years.
Aim: Explore, conserve, and sustainably use deep-ocean resources to support India’s Blue Economy.
Six Components:
- Develop technologies for deep-sea mining, submersibles, and robotics.
- Ocean climate change advisory service with observations + predictive models.
- Deep-sea biodiversity exploration and conservation.
- Surveys for polymetallic nodules and minerals.
- Energy & freshwater extraction technologies from oceans.
- Advanced Marine Station for ocean biology & engineering → to bridge research & industry.

Nature: India’s first crewed deep-sea exploration mission.
Objective: To send 3 humans up to 6,000 m depth into the central Indian Ocean by 2027.
Vehicle: Crewed submersible Matsya-6000 (fish-shaped, 2.1 m personal sphere).
- Capacity: 3 aquanauts.
- Endurance: 12 hours normal + 96 hours emergency life support.
- Material: Titanium alloy sphere (80 mm thickness) to withstand ~600x atmospheric pressure.
Coordinating Agency: National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Strategic Significance: Will place India among a select group of countries (US, Russia, China, Japan, France) with human deep-sea exploration capability.

Aquanaut Training: Discussed above.
Matsya-6000 Development:
- Successfully wet tested in Feb 2025.
- Titanium alloy sphere fabrication ongoing at ISRO using electron beam welding.
- Initial steel test sphere used for 500 m trials.
Technology Development:
- Indigenous acoustic telephone built for underwater communication (works in open ocean after initial failures).
- Life-support systems designed to maintain 20% oxygen and scrub CO₂.
Next Steps:
- Human test dive at 500 m depth planned before full 6,000 m mission.
- Full Samudrayaan launch targeted by 2027.

[UPSC 2021] Consider the following statements:

1.The Global Ocean Commission grants licenses for seabed exploration and mining in international waters.

2.India has received licenses for seabed mineral exploration in international waters.

3. ‘Rare earth minerals’ are present on the seafloor in international waters.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Options:(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only* (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3