Saildrone Deploys Surveyor USV with Woolpert for NOAA Mariana Seafloor Mapping
Operational Context and Chronology
An industry-first scale mapping mission is underway as Saildrone and Woolpert execute bathymetric surveys for NOAA across a roughly 13,000 sq nm footprint near the Mariana Islands. The task prioritizes filling seabed data gaps inside the U.S. exclusive economic zone and supports national mapping objectives tied to global initiatives. Field operations began this month and the program is scheduled to complete in May 2026, with continuous data streaming to shore-based processors. This mission reorders how federal ocean science programs source high-resolution seafloor information.
The vehicle deployed is the 20-meter Surveyor USV, designed for months-long sorties with a dual propulsion setup combining a wing and auxiliary diesel. Its transit velocity centers near 6 knots while reported endurance reaches about 100 days between service calls, and onboard payload power is rated at 2,000 W steady / 4,000 W peak. Sensor payloads include deep- and shallow-water multibeam sonars and oceanographic instruments for positioning and current profiling, enabling contiguous, survey-grade bathymetry in both abyssal and coastal bands. Communications use satellite constellations to push data toward processing pipelines within hours of acquisition.
Woolpert runs an automated survey production environment that ingests incoming streams from the mission portal and performs quality control, bathymetric processing, and final deliverables. Mr. Neff framed the integration as a shift from episodic ship charters to continuous, programmatic surveying with automated QA/QC. This reduces latency between collection and usable products and allows coastal managers to act on updated charts and habitat layers faster than legacy schedules permitted. The contract throughput model used here converts time-at-sea into frequent, predictable data releases rather than infrequent large campaigns.
Strategically, the mission tightens the nexus between uncrewed platforms and geospatial service providers, cutting unit costs for ocean mapping and expanding downstream use cases in marine hazard assessment, fisheries science, and subsea infrastructure planning. For venture-stage operators, the case creates repeatable procurement pathways where performance and data pipelines matter more than asset ownership. The immediate consequence is an acceleration in demand for autonomous maritime data services and for companies that can pair sensor suites with cloud-native production chains.
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