Research · MIT Technology Review
The submersibles, assembled by the young firm Orpheus Ocean, are designed to explore this environment: a squelchy substrate that teems
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Scientists and companies have long sought to probe the deep sea and bring such treasures to the surface.
Key facts
- The vehicles cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars each to build, whereas existing options can range from $5 million to $10 million
- Smack dab between Australia and South America, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel Rainier is currently on a mission to map more than 8,000 square nautical
- At less than two meters in length and under 600 pounds (270 kilograms), Russell says the Orpheus robots are the smallest—and correspondingly the least expensive—ocean vehicles on the market capable
- Orpheus, which spun off from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in 2024, could be well positioned to make those possibilities a lot more economical
Summary
Smack dab between Australia and South America, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel Rainier is currently on a mission to map more than 8,000 square nautical miles of the Pacific seafloor in search of critical mineral deposits. The submersibles, built by the young company Orpheus Ocean, are designed to explore this environment: a squelchy substrate that teems with life of all kinds, from tiny microbes to worms and snails, along with egg-size “nodules” of metals—such as copper, cobalt, nickel, and manganese—that are crucial for technologies worldwide. The vehicles cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars each to build, whereas existing options can range from $5 million to $10 million.
If all goes well, the test could help establish the vehicles as a tool for government agencies, scientists, and companies that hope to probe the vastly understudied deep sea and the resources it holds.