A visualisation of the SKA core site. Small dishes will receive short radio waves while static "tiles" of receiving elements will receive longer wavelengths.

CSIRO and the Square Kilometre Array

CSIRO is engaged in a number of national and international partnerships with industry, science organisations and governments to support Australia’s bid to host the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope.

• 1 December 2009 | Updated 14 October 2011

• The Australian SKA Pathfinder
• Industry collaboration
• Regional collaboration
• International collaboration

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a next-generation international radio telescope that will be vastly more sensitive than the best present-day instruments.

It will give astronomers remarkable insights into the formation of the early Universe, including the emergence of the first stars, galaxies and other structures.

The SKA will comprise a vast array of antennas, arranged in clusters to be spread over 3 000 kilometres or more. The antennas will be linked electronically to form one enormous telescope.

The SKA will require new technology and progress in fundamental engineering in fields such as information and communication technology, high-performance computing and production manufacturing techniques.

The international astronomy community has identified two suitable places for locating the SKA: Australia and New Zealand, and Southern Africa. The Australian candidate core site is in the mid-west of Western Australia.

The Australian SKA Pathfinder

CSIRO and partner institutions are now building the Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope (ASKAP), at the Australian SKA candidate site in Western Australia.

ASKAP will be an array of thirty-six antennas, each 12 metres in diameter.

As well as carrying out cutting-edge science, ASKAP will pioneer and test revolutionary new technologies in the areas of electrical engineering, digital systems, computing and signal transport, and provide key results and techniques to feed into the design of the SKA.

ASKAP will also showcase the outstanding ‘radio-quietness’ of the Australian candidate for the SKA core site.

The ASKAP project is led by CSIRO, in collaboration with leading scientists and engineers in the Netherlands, Canada, United Kingdom and Germany, and colleagues from a number of Australian universities.

Industry collaboration

Australia’s approach to the SKA project involves collaborations between industry, government, and science organizations.

The Australian SKA Industry Consortium (ASKAIC) is a group of organisations collaborating to help attract the SKA to Australia and to facilitate industry engagement in the project.

ASKAIC’s membership includes major multinationals, Australian-based companies, CSIRO, and representatives of the Commonwealth and Western Australian Governments.

In 2008 Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, launched a register of the opportunities available to industry to participate in building the ASKAP radio telescope in Western Australia.

The Opportunities Register outlines the technology and infrastructure requirements to 2012 in areas where industry partnerships are needed. Budgeted projects total around A$70 million.

The Register reflects CSIRO’s commitment to working with industry to provide innovative, cost-effective solutions for ASKAP, and eventually for the SKA.

Regional collaboration

In August 2009 Australia and New Zealand signed a collaborative arrangement on a joint SKA bid.

The arrangement established a governance structure for the joint bid in the form of the Australia - New Zealand SKA Coordination Committee (ANZSCC), an intergovernmental body of senior officials.

CSIRO is an active member of the ANZSCC. The other principal partners are the Australian, New Zealand, and Western Australian Governments.

International collaboration

CSIRO has been involved in the international SKA project from the beginning.

CSIRO staff sit on all SKA Working Groups, Committees and Design Groups, and provide key technical input across all domains to the international SKA Project Development Office (based in Manchester, United Kingdom).

Structures mirroring the international domain specialist and technology groups have been set up to ensure effective input to the international project.

Key ASKAP Project Office staff have attended all international SKA meetings and have participated in over 90 per cent of the many relevant technical and governance teleconferences.

How the SKA will look, and where it is to be located, are among the many questions that need to be addressed before construction can begin.

The European Union’s Preparatory Phase Studies for the SKA (PrepSKA) program is the framework within which this decision-making is taking place.

CSIRO is an active participant in the PrepSKA program, along with the Australian Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and New Zealand’s Ministry of Economic Development.

Read more about CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science.