On July 8,the 2025 National Science and Technology Award Conference was grandly held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.The project of the full-ocean-depth manned submersible Fendouzhe (Striver) won the Special Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award.This prestigious honor marks a major breakthrough in China's deep-sea scientific research and inspires enormous pride among practitioners in the domestic titanium industry.
As the core component of the full-ocean-depth manned submersible,the manned cabin serves as the critical hardware support and safety barrier for human exploration of the 10,000-meter deep sea,representing the core benchmark of a country's deep-sea manned diving technology.Approved under the national key R&D program,the project was led by the Institute of Metal Research,Chinese Academy of Sciences,in collaboration with Baoti Co., Ltd.and Luoyang Ship Material Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation.Integrating top industry technical resources,the professional R&D team overcame numerous difficulties through three years of collaborative efforts,successfully developing and manufacturing a full-ocean-depth titanium alloy manned cabin capable of accommodating three crew members and breaking through multiple technical barriers.
During the R&D process,the research team focused on core titanium alloy technologies,solved fundamental scientific problems of titanium alloy materials,and conquered a series of bottleneck technologies including specialized material development,integral forming and precision welding for manned cabins.The achievements have realized leapfrog development in the application of titanium alloy technologies for deep-sea equipment in China.
Advanced technologies deliver outstanding results.As of June 2026, the Fendouzhe submersible has completed a total of 522 deep-sea dives,including 25 ultra-deep dives exceeding 10,000 meters.From June to October 2025,Fendouzhe completed 43 diving missions in the Arctic waters.This makes China the world's only country capable of conducting continuous manned deep-sea diving operations in densely ice-covered Arctic waters,fully verifying the reliability and advancement of China's equipment performance and core technologies.
The Special Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award is a fruitful achievement of years of dedicated research and persistent tackling of technical challenges by China's deep-sea research team.It authoritatively proves that China has reached the world's leading level in the R&D and manufacturing of deep-sea manned submersibles as well as the application of high-end titanium alloys.
In the future,practitioners in the titanium industry will take this honor as motivation.Adhering to the spirit of dedication,pragmatism and innovation,we will continue to explore the R&D and industrial application of high-end titanium alloy technologies,constantly break technical boundaries and optimize product quality. By empowering high-quality industrial development through scientific and technological innovation,the titanium industry will continuously contribute to the advancement of China's high-end equipment manufacturing and deep-sea exploration undertakings.
