System that could help humans live underwater

DEEP, a British ocean technology company that has acquired a submerged quarry diving centre near Bristol as a campus and research facility, says its mission is to “help humans live underwater”. The cornerstone of the company’s plans is an underwater habitat called the Sentinel system, which would allow humans to live and work at depths of 200 metres for up to a month. CNN September 17 news.

The Sentinel system consists of interconnected modules that can be used for everything from collecting data on ocean chemicals to excavating historic shipwrecks. The scalable habitat can be configured into different shapes, making it as suitable for a six-person mission as a large research station, according to DEEP. The company hopes its habitat can be a catalyst for permanent human settlements underwater, much like the International Space Station (ISS) has allowed humans to live and work in space since 2000.

Last week, DEEP unveiled a smaller version of the underwater shelter it will use to develop systems for Sentinel. The Vanguard is a 12-by-7.5-meter shelter that can accommodate three people underwater for a week. The pilot shelter will be ready to be lowered into the water at DEEP’s UK campus in early 2025. It could serve critical purposes in a fast-moving mission, such as the search for survivors of the superyacht sinking off Sicily in August, according to DEEP’s chairman. With the ship submerged to a depth of 50 meters, divers can only stay underwater for about 12 minutes before needing to surface. Instead, a shelter placed on the seabed near the wreck could serve as a base for divers.

Currently, there is only one active underwater lab, operated by Florida International University, serving everyone from coral reef researchers to astronauts training for extreme environments. If all goes according to plan, Sentinel will be ready for operation by 2027. Wolpert hopes to deploy the system in multiple locations around the world. But DEEP admits it will take a lot of work to reach this ambitious goal.

Sentinel’s modules will be 3D printed by six robots, using a nickel-based superalloy called Inconel, a steel reinforced with an extreme-strength alloy also used in parts of the Space Shuttle and SpaceX rockets. Depending on the operating pressure, the Sentinel system will be accessible by either a submarine or a diver, entering through a hole in the bottom. A floating support buoy on the surface will ensure connectivity via Starlink satellites. The accommodation will be powered by renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and photovoltaic panels on the water’s surface.

DEEP is in discussions with organizations and governments around the world. Customers can lease, buy, or share space in the Sentinel system, depending on their needs. In addition to driving new ocean-related jobs and investment, other uses for the system include monitoring and repairing critical undersea infrastructure, tourism, space travel training, coral regeneration, naval diving training, and medical research. Once the mission is complete, the habitat can be redeployed to a new location.