Designed as the first « International Ocean Station », SeaOrbiter is an in situ multidisciplinary scientific platform, a mobile underwater base and a tool for education and communication on the oceans, their biodiversity, and climate issues.

SeaOrbiter is a scientific platform that allows continuous and permanent analysis of the open ocean ecosystems through the combination of human observation & monitoring of biological and physicochemical parameters. The platform can record data in the 3 dimensions covering three major domains: the underwater realm, the air and the air-sea interface.

SeaOrbiter’s contribution to science will encompass a wide spectrum of fields including: oceanography, biology, biomedicine, ecology, climatology and biomimicry due to its ability to analyze biological, physical, chemical, dynamic and climatic factors.

More than ever, the international scientific context related to the oceans and climate is at the heart of global issues and SeaOrbiter was designed to meet the expectations of scientists around the world concerning the impacts of global warming on the ocean and its biodiversity.

The ocean resources, today weakened, are also key for food issues and human health: the potential for new proteins and for new medicines is tremendous and is paving the way for important changes for the future of humanity.

SeaOrbiter will therefore allow scientists to discover and enhance new marine wealth that will tomorrow be a source of innovation and progress in areas such as:

• Nutrition
  • New sources of proteins and nutracentrics
  • Primary production
  • Food chain
• Health
  • Pharmacology & genetics
  • Medecine & telemedecine
  • Human science
• Ocean & Climate change
  • Sea-air and GHG exchanges
  • CO2 carbon cycle
  • Satellite EO calibration
• Biodiversity & Biomimicry
  • Marine biodiversity
  • Anthropogenic pollutions
• Technology & Innovation
  • Communication and underwater accoustics
  • New material testing
  • Exploratory and investigation tools
• Deep sea explorations
  • Deep sea mapping
  • Deep sea ecosystems

Scientific operators and researchers will have the mission of implementing a set of research programs, managed by a committee of international experts (NEEMO, Ifremer, universities and academic institutions etc.).  This International collaboration was inspired by the International Space Station, as one of SeaOrbiter’s objectives is to promote collaboration between countries on global issues related to the oceans and climate issues through a joint research laboratory. SeaOrbiter’s scientific program is designed with an international team of experts and the ship is meant to drift on the world’s ocean with an international crew.