Cornwall, England, will build the world's deepest swimming pool, called the Blue Abyss, near the local airport, 164 feet (50 meters) deep, but will not be open to the public, but will be a research, testing and training centre for the offshore energy, marine, defence and space sectors.
The Blue Abyss will be a research, testing and training centre serving the offshore energy, marine, defence and space sectors.
The Blue Abyss will reportedly be built by a British company of the same name, with a total investment of £150 million, and will be able to accommodate more than 42,000 cubic meters of water, equivalent to 17 Olympic-sized swimming pools, making it the largest and deepest indoor pool in the world.
The Blue Abyss will be built near Cornwall Airport.
Blue Abyss said construction will begin once planning permission is in place and will be completed 18 months later, in the second quarter of 2023.
The pool is expected to create 160 jobs, inject £50 million into construction costs for Cornwall during construction and is expected to contribute £8 million in revenue to the local economy each year.
"The Blue Abyss" was designed by British architect Robin Pattington.
The project was supported by legendary British astronaut Tim Pique. Tim Pique boarded the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015 and spent six months there, the UK's first official astronaut.
Pique said Cornwall was the perfect home for the "Blue Abyss", an area with huge potential in space, aerospace and renewable energy.
It is reported that the pool will serve as the world's first commercial astronaut training center. Astronauts train underwater because it simulates weightlessness in space.
The pool will also benefit research projects in other markets, including offshore energy, marine defense, marine ecology, human life sciences and commercial diving, and will contribute to the development of remotely operated submarine robots and mini submersibles.
It can even be rented by filmmakers who shoot scenes underwater, bringing famous TV and movie stars to Cornwall.
The Blue Abyss will create a corporate complex dedicated to the aerospace industry.
Blue Abyss is reportedly in talks with Cornwall to try to take a 10-acre plot of land to create a corporate complex dedicated to the aerospace industry that will feature swimming pools, astronaut training centers, height and oxygen rooms, "microgravity suites," training centers with classrooms, workshops, on-site catering and accommodation.
NASA's astronaut training pool is located at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory near the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and is only 40 feet (12 meters) deep.
Currently, the world record for the deepest swimming pool, held by Deepspot of Mszczonów, Poland, has a depth of 148 feet (45 meters) and only opened last November.
Text/Nandu reporter Chen Lin