Maison SKA-France, a French consortium comprising five research organisations and seven private companies, has joined the SKA Organisation.
CNRS is the leading research organisation for the participation of French institutes in the SKA through the Maison SKA-France consortium. The other research organisations are Paris Observatory, Côte d'Azur Observatory, Orléans University and Bordeaux University.
The seven private companies that are members of the consortium are Air Liquide, ATOS-Bull, Callisto, CNIM, FEDD, Kalray and TAS.
"We are delighted to welcome these leading French institutes to the SKA Organisation. France is a major player, with a long tradition of astronomy and radio astronomy. Their accession is testament to the growing international interest in the SKA project, which is progressing in leaps and bounds,” says SKA chairperson Dr Catherine Cesarsky.
“We are thrilled to have reached this critical step. Momentum has been building steadily in France over the past few years with strong interest from major industry players, but also from the science community and major institutions like CNRS,” Maison SKA-France director Dr Chiara Ferrari adds.
France has already contributed to the SKA project as an observer country, while many French engineers are participating in several of the international design consortia.
French researchers are also involved in 11 of the SKA’s science working groups.