Square Kilometre Array

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a global effort to build the largest radio telescope on Earth. SKA will be able to look back into the furthest reaches of the cosmos to study the first structures in the Universe, helping to understand some of the most fundamental questions in physics, as well as probing the nature of gravity and cosmic magnetism and exploring the origins of life itself. The SKA Observatory (an Intergovernmental Organisation) based at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire coordinates the design and the policy making for the SKA. The Observatory will be sited in three countries and continents with the Headquarters in the UK and two telescope sites, one in South Africa and the other in Western Australia. Construction commenced on 1st July 2021, with operations due to start from 2028. The Observatory will be fully operational from 2030. The SKA has been developed from the very beginning as an international partnership that will draw on the scientific, technological, industrial and financial resources of its Members and deliver to them substantial benefits. These will include scientific advances in our understanding of the Universe; returns to industry, both through provision of components of the telescope (whether in-kind or through direct contracts) and in the longer term through technological spin-offs; and significant social returns through human capital development. Engagement in the development and realisation of such a massive and revolutionary scientific project will stimulate advances in the industrial, social and technological spheres and inspire future generations. At a time of tension in many spheres of international relations, SKA also offers a unique forum for positive interactions between a wide range of countries in pursuit of common scientific ideals.