Square kilometer radio telescope networks to start construction

Two new radio-telescope networks have been approved for the construction by the SKA Observatory (SKAO). The Member States of SKAO voted to approve the construction of SKA telescopes in Australia and South Africa. The pair of telescope networks is currently designated SKA-BAS and SKA-MID, with names describing the radio frequency ranges each network will cover. 

The two radiotecopic networks are didential the largest and most complex radio network ever built. The decision to approve telescope networks comes after the creation of Skao as an intergovernmental organization earlier this year. The decision also follows the publication of a pair of key documents, including the observatorial construction proposal and the observatory and delivery plan, published last year.

Delivering these two documents is the cumulation of more than seven years of design and engineering work with more than 500 experts from 20 different countries who have worked to develop and test technologies needed to build and exploit telescope networks. The construction of SKA telescopes promises tangible societal and economic benefits for countries involved in the project, with direct and indirect economic returns of innovation and technological benefits created by networks.

Developing telescope networks will also create new high-tech jobs and strengthen industrial capacity with participating countries. The scientific community has used other SKA telescopes for several years to answer fundamental questions about the universe. The purchase of major contracts for SKA telescopes immediately begins, with some work investigations conducted in recent weeks.

In the coming months, about 70 contracts will be placed by the SKAO within the Member States, with competitive offers that take place in each country. The first significant activity on construction sites will begin earlier next year, with the construction of sustainably telescopes until 2028. However, the early opportunities for science with matrices will begin in the coming years.