Australia is sending data-gathering drones into Antarctic waters. 

The Commonwealth’s Australian Antarctic Division, has issued a tender for an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to “complete autonomous ocean science missions lasting from three to six months” and cover “distances exceeding 3000 nautical miles.”

The USV will be sent to the Southern Ocean to collect data such as on local conditions “in real-time or near real-time”.

The documents say the government backers would like to see an initial trial take place “between October 2023 and March 2024”.

“This trial will focus on USV performance in ice-free waters, with one goal being to assess manoeuvrability and control features of the USV to determine the feasibility of a follow up trials incorporating sea-ice interaction,” tender documents state.

“Pending the successful outcome of the 2023-24 trial, a second trial will occur between July 2024 and June 2025 with complimentary mission objectives.

“The extension option will be exercised only if the second trial period is assessed as worthwhile,” the government said.

The government’s most recent update to the Australian Antarctic Strategy included an intention to establish “a suite of autonomous monitoring and research capabilities”, with data collected autonomously to be added to the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AADC), an internet-based open data resource.