DEEP’s Vanguard is an underwater habitat that lets four scientists live and work submerged for seven days at a time, replacing short four‑hour dive windows. The station has three main sections — a 12‑metre living chamber, a diving centre with a moon pool, and a seabed base — and its steel hull is 3D‑printed on site by six robotic arms. A surface buoy provides power, compressed air and communications; the first deployment off Florida is planned for late 2025 to support coral restoration. Vanguard operates at ambient pressure, starts at 20 metres, and DEEP aims for 200‑metre models by 2027 and a global network by 2030.
Forget Moon Bases — DEEP’s Vanguard Lets Scientists Live Underwater for Weeks
DEEP’s Vanguard is an underwater habitat that lets four scientists live and work submerged for seven days at a time, replacing short four‑hour dive windows. The station has three main sections — a 12‑metre living chamber, a diving centre with a moon pool, and a seabed base — and its steel hull is 3D‑printed on site by six robotic arms. A surface buoy provides power, compressed air and communications; the first deployment off Florida is planned for late 2025 to support coral restoration. Vanguard operates at ambient pressure, starts at 20 metres, and DEEP aims for 200‑metre models by 2027 and a global network by 2030.
22:29, 03.11.2025Science
Forget Moon Bases — DEEP’s Vanguard Lets Scientists Live Underwater for Weeks
Your typical marine research dive lasts roughly four hours before divers must ascend for decompression. DEEP’s Vanguard habitat aims to change that by allowing four scientists to live and work underwater for seven-day stretches without surfacing.
Vanguard functions like an underwater apartment, removing the repetitive up-and-down cycle that has limited marine research since Jacques Cousteau’s era. Extended stays give researchers continuous access to ecosystems and behaviors that are nearly impossible to study within short dive windows.
Design and key features
The station is composed of three integrated sections that provide direct ocean access and long-duration habitability:
- 12‑metre living chamber — space for sleeping, eating, sample analysis and daily living.
- Diving centre with a moon pool — enables direct, safe water entry and exit.
- Seabed base unit — anchors the habitat against storms and currents.
Six robotic arms 3D‑print the steel hull on site using wire‑arc additive manufacturing, producing pressure‑resistant walls designed for prolonged submersion. A surface buoy supplies power, compressed air and communications through tethered lines, effectively bringing utilities and Wi‑Fi to the underwater workspace.
Scientific and operational advantages
Because Vanguard operates at ambient pressure, occupants acclimate once at the start of their mission and can work efficiently throughout their stay without daily decompression cycles. That continuous presence allows observation of time‑sensitive and slowly unfolding phenomena such as coral spawning events, fish migration patterns and ecosystem recovery—processes often missed during brief dives.
The first deployment is planned off Florida in late 2025 with a focus on coral restoration, a field that currently requires months of planning for only hours of in‑water work. The prototype targets shallow operations with a 20‑metre operational depth to remain accessible to standard scuba certification levels.
Roadmap and broader uses
DEEP’s roadmap includes deeper, 200‑metre‑capable habitats targeted for around 2027. Those stations would accelerate marine science and serve as closed‑environment training platforms for lunar and Mars missions. By 2030, DEEP envisions a global network of underwater habitats—creating semi‑permanent human outposts in the ocean that extend research time and capabilities.
"Vanguard turns short research visits into sustained scientific presence," allowing marine science to observe and react to ocean processes in real time.
This is more than new diving gear; it’s infrastructure that could transform how we study and protect ocean ecosystems.