About

About C-Star

C-Star is Oshen’s small autonomous surface vessel for distributed ocean sensing. A rigid sail supplies its main propulsion, with battery and solar configurations powering sensors and onboard systems. Operators set waypoints and monitor missions through a dashboard; a stern thruster can assist movement in light winds.

In the configuration evaluated by Oshen and MBARI’s Synchro team, the 1.2-metre craft carried instruments for passive acoustics, weather, waves and sea-surface measurements. Selected readings were available during missions, while full-resolution data, including acoustic recordings, were recovered afterwards. Testing identified navigation difficulties in weak winds and currents, partly reduced by the auxiliary thruster, making propulsion conditions an important part of mission planning.

Deployments

Operating Use
1 customer-operated C-Star - 2026-08-21 - Voice of the Ocean Foundation - ocean_observation - Voice of the Ocean Foundation operates one purchased C-Star for ocean observation in Sweden after operator training and a Gothenburg-archipelago mission.
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Operating Use
150 C-Star vessels planned - 2026-08-20 - Global - Oshen plans to grow its C-Star fleet toward 150 vessels using the new financing.
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Operating Use
Roughly 50 C-Star vessels - 2026-08-20 - Global - The Times reported that Oshen has a fleet of roughly 50 one-metre C-Star autonomous surface vessels.
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Observed use

Exact-product configurations are shown without inferring supply, purchase, customer status, standard fit, deployment or partnership.

Oceanus12
2026-08-25 - Physical Demo - Connected - Physical - ZeroUSV Oceanus12 autonomously deployed two Oshen C-Star surface drones during a coordinated Plymouth demonstration.
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Supply

Supply / Components

C-Star
Underwater Acoustic Hydrophones - Perception - SEA - Oshen integrated SEA hydrophones into C-Star vessels for a UKDI-supported autonomous acoustic-sensing demonstration - source: sea.co.uk
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Timeline

Oshen raises $5M to scale C-Star production
2026-08-20 - Funding - The Plymouth company plans to grow its fleet from roughly 50 one-metre C-Star autonomous surface vessels toward 150. Capital will support production scale-up and software for coordinating and managing larger robot constellations. C-Star deployments span ocean-data and acoustic sensing, including Royal Navy-funded work connected to North Atlantic hybrid-fleet programmes.
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