At DEEP I lead the teams that design, build, and test our subsea human habitats.
I learned my craft designing hardware for manned space flights with NASA. But my projects at DEEP are the kind of work I dreamed of doing since I started engineering – to solve for challenges of sustaining human life in the ocean realm.
One of my childhood heroes was Jacques Cousteau. I grew up captivated by his groundbreaking innovations and exploration of the underwater world.
But today, the ocean often feels like an ignored realm. Large swathes of the ocean remain unexplored, and all kinds of wonders remain undiscovered.
There’s an opportunity to pick up where Cousteau left off. To explore the subsea environment and give humans sustained access to the ocean at an unprecedented scale.
By expanding our business operations in the U.S. and building our pilot subsea human habitat in Florida, we are making a foundational step toward a permanent human presence under the ocean.
What is Vanguard?
Vanguard is our pilot subsea human habitat. It is designed for four crew, for medium-duration missions of seven or more days, offering extended time for discovery and research under the ocean without the need to resurface.
As well as serving our customers, Vanguard will allow us to fine tune our designs and operations. The learnings we take will pave the way for future subsea habitats in our roadmap, such as Sentinel.
A render of Vanguard
How Vanguard has evolved
When the project to build Vanguard was conceived, the initial intention was to deploy the pilot habitat in the lake at DEEP Campus ,which would provide a controlled body of water for us to test and learn in. As we moved forward and conversations developed with customers, we realized there was an opportunity to deploy Vanguard in the open ocean. Doing so would meet demand in the market and provide an unparalleled environment for real-world testing.
The design of Vanguard has evolved correspondingly, especially the foundation, which has been reworked to withstand the wave and storm exposure that come with an ocean deployment.
As part of delivering the Vanguard project, we awarded a multimillion-dollar build contract to Triton Submarines, the Florida-based manufacturer of advanced submersibles. Triton has is providing critical engineering services for us, contributing its expertise in pressure vessel design, certification, and underwater systems integration.
We also have brought in Bastion Technologies, with its expertise in aerospace and subsea engineering, and Unique Group, a global leader in diving and marine services, to further strengthen the Vanguard project team with world-class technical capabilities.
How does Vanguard work?
At a high level, there are three main parts to Vanguard: the living chamber, the dive center, and the foundation.
As the name suggests, the living chamber is where the crew will eat, sleep, work and perform various daily tasks. It consists of a pressure vessel, designed to withstand the pressure of the ocean water and keep the occupants safe and dry.
Attached to one end of the living chamber is the dive center. This area has space to change in and out of dive gear, and a moon pool (an opening to the ocean) for entry and exit.
The living chamber and dive center are attached to a foundation, which itself securely mounts to the ocean floor to protect the habitat from waves and storms.
At the surface, Vanguard is supported by a buoy. This floating structure is tethered to the habitat and provides various support services to the crew, such as breathing gases, power, and communications. Crews will come and moor to the buoy, dive down to Vanguard and enter through its moon pool.
A render of Vanguard
Who will use Vanguard?
Vanguard will be used by a range of customers. These include ocean researchers, marine conservationists, organizations requiring training in advanced diving techniques, and the space sector (the subsea environment is an effective analog for space).
Is Vanguard safe?
Safety is factored into everything we do. From the early concept stage, through to operating the assembled habitat. Our commitment to classify Vanguard with a leading classification society is the clearest demonstration of this.
Vanguard will be the first subsea human habitat to be classed under the rigorous DNV ruleset. Throughout its development, we have worked closely with DNV – an international quality assurance and risk management company – for this third-party expert assessment that Vanguard is safe to operate.
You can read more about how subsea human habitats are made safe.
A render of Vanguard
What comes next after Vanguard?
Vanguard is not the destination, it is the launchpad.
Florida is a perfect environment to test and iterate our designs, develop our operations, and grow rapidly.
Our pilot habitat will allow us to test and refine the systems that will eventually support a global network of subsea human habitats.
You can follow our progress by following us on social media @deepengineered and visiting our Newsroom.