The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Project enters a new era and takes a major step towards the start of the construction of the world’s largest radio telescope, after the announcement today of the teams who will be responsible for its final design. In total, more than three hundred and fifty scientists and engineers, representing 18 nations and drawn from nearly one hundred institutions, universities and industry have the challenging task to work on the critical detailed design phase which will usher in the most sensitive and powerful telescope ever devised.

“This is a level of engagement only seen in revolutionary projects!”, said Professor Phil Diamond, Director General of the SKA Organization. “That we have been able to pull together a team of some of the world’s best experts, most prestigious institutions and major companies reflects the passion and ambition of the scientific and engineering communities to work on an inspirational world-class project of the scale of the SKA.”

The funding made available by the partners for this detailed design phase is O120Million.

The SKA is a global endeavor and one of the largest and most ambitious scientific projects in history. From 2018 onwards, eventually thousands of large dishes and literally millions of radio receivers, will be deployed in desert regions in Africa and in Australia, eventually making the SKA one of the true giants of the astronomical and scientific world.

During 2013 the SKA Organization sent out invitations to research organizations and industry partners around the globe to participate in the analysis and design of the components of the SKA during its three year detailed design phase. This request for proposals included a conceptual design of the telescope, a work breakdown structure, a statement of the work required and additional reference documents. As with other projects of this magnitude, such as the development of the Large Hadron Collider or major space programs, the SKA has been broken down into various modules called “Work Packages”. Each of these Work Packages will be managed by a consortium of international experts.

“Each element of the SKA is critical to the overall success of the project, and we certainly look forward to seeing the fruits of each consortium’s hard work shape up over the coming years”, said Professor John Womersley, Chairman of the SKA Board. “Now this multi-disciplinary team of experts has three full years to come up with the best technological solutions for the final design of the telescope, so we can start tendering for construction of the first phase in 2017 as planned. The Directors of the SKA Board feel that the consortia selected represent some of the world’s very finest scientists and engineers.”

Each consortium has provided detailed management and verification plans, schedules, milestones and budgets for the various elements with which they have been tasked. The strategic aim of the SKA Organization, which is coordinating the global effort, is that the work undertaken within each of the consortia is focused on these specific elements of the SKA project and that their work will span the entire pre-construction period and meet critical design reviews along the way.

Analogous to a jigsaw puzzle, the consortia teams will be called upon to ensure that their various elements integrate and interface as seamlessly as possible.

With a collecting area of one square kilometer (one million square meters), the scale of the SKA represents a significant step forward in engineering. When operational, the SKA telescope will provide a monumental increase over current scientific capabilities and be able to address some of humankind’s greatest questions, such as our understanding of gravity, the nature of dark energy, the very formation of the Universe and whether or not life exists elsewhere.

For more information on the SKA Project, visit the website http://www.skatelescope.org

Notes for editors 

– A list of the SKA Work Packages and a world map showing all the institutions involved are available at: http://www.skatelescope.org/skadesign/

– A selection of quotes from experts involved around the work is available at: http://www.skatelescope.org/news/consortia-announcement/

About the SKA

The SKA project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope, with a square kilometer (one million square meters) of collecting area. The scale of the SKA represents a huge leap forward in both engineering and research & development towards building and delivering a radio telescope, and will deliver a correspondingly transformational increase in science capability when operational.

Deploying thousands of radio telescopes, in three unique configurations, which will enable astronomers to monitor the sky in unprecedented detail and survey the entire sky thousands of times faster than any system currently in existence. The SKA telescope will be co-located in Africa and in Australia. It will have an unprecedented scope in observations, exceeding the image resolution quality of the Hubble Space Telescope by a factor of 50 times, whilst also having the ability to image huge areas of sky in parallel. With a range of other large telescopes in the optical and infrared being built and launched into space over the coming decades, the SKA will perfectly augment, compliment and lead the way in scientific discovery. 

The SKA Organization, with its headquarters at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Manchester, UK, was established in December 2011 as a not-for-profit company in order to formalize relationships between the international partners and to centralize the leadership of the project. Ten countries are currently members of the SKA Organization – Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. India is an Associate Member. Further countries have expressed their interest in joining the SKA Organization in the coming years.

Contact Information:

William Garnier

Communications and Outreach Manager, SKA Organization

Phone: +44 (0) 161 306 9613

Email: w.garnier@skatelescope.org