Name and Location
MeerKAT telescope project, Northern Cape, South Africa.

Client
The Square Kilometre Array South Africa (SKA SA) is the agency that is driving South Africa’s bid to host the €1.5-billion international SKA radio telescope and the MeerKAT programme.

Project Description
South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope array is intended to be a precursor to the international SKA radio telescope. The MeerKAT evolved from the original idea of a Karoo Array Telescope (KAT).

The reference design specification for the full MeerKAT is 64 offset dishes, each with a diameter of 13.5 m, with single-pixel wideband feeds covering the 500 MHz to 2.5 GHz frequency range.

The full MeerKAT will have a central core, but some dishes are almost 10 km apart, thus replicating the SKA on a small scale.

It will also facilitate the installation of multiple receiver systems in the primary and secondary focal areas and is the reference design for the midband SKA concept.

The MeerKAT will be delivered in three phases.

The first phase – the MeerKAT Precursor Array, known as KAT-7 and which comprises seven 12-m-diameter composite parabolic dishes at the Karoo site – was completed in 2010.

This prototype interferometer array serves as an engineering test-bed for technologies and systems and as an operational radio telescope. The MeerKAT will form the core of the SKA, which will comprise 3 000 dishes and a central aperture array.

Value
The estimated cost is R900-million.

Duration
The commissioning of MeerKAT is scheduled for 2014/15, with the array coming on line for science operations in 2016. This phase includes all antennas, but only the first receiver will be fitted and a processing bandwidth of 750 MHz will be available.

For MeerKAT Phase 2 and Phase 3, the remaining two receivers will be fitted and the processing bandwidth will be increased to at least 2 GHz, and later to 4 GHz.

Latest developments
SKA SA has reported that the last of the 64 foundations for the dishes for South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope array were poured on February 11.

The foundations have been constructed to stringent specifications to ensure that the antennas will be “exceptionally” stable, explains SKA SA GM: infrastructure and site operations Tracy Cheetham.

As a consequence, each foundation is composed of eight steel-reinforced concrete piles, which extend from 5 m to 10 m deep, depending on soil conditions, plus a 5.2 m by 5.2 m slab of concrete positioned on top of the piles, to add stability.

For each foundation 32 holding down bolts were pre-assembled to form a circular steel cage, known as a bird’s nest, into which the concrete was poured. The construction of the foundations used more than 570 t of steel and nearly 5 000 m³ of concrete. The laying of the foundations took nine months.

The Karoo Array Processing Building (KAPB) and the power facility are both receiving their final touches. The KAPB will house all the MeerKAT’s data processing racks and its power and back-up equipment. The building is actually an underground bunker, shielded from radio frequency interference. The fibre-optic cable ducting has been completed, leaving contractor Plessey to pull through and connect the cable. All MeerKAT infrastructure should be completed by the end of March.

For the next two months the focus will be on testing that all the infrastructure operates to specification. This will include cold and hot commissioning. During cold commissioning the power is connected without switching on the equipment. During hot commissioning the machines are turned on and tested for a period of time.

SKA SA is the local organisation responsible for South Africa’s contribution to the global SKA project.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Group Five Coastal (building foundations), Schneider Electric South Africa (building management system), Stratosat Datacom and General Dynamics Satcom Technologies (design, construction, installation and commissioning of antennas) and Brink & Heath Civils (foundations).

On Budget and on Time?
The project is on schedule.

Contact Details for Project Information
MeerKAT engineering office, tel +27 21 506 7300 or fax +27 21 506 7375.
Group Five Coastal, tel +27 31 5690300 or fax +27 31 569 0420.
Schneider Electric South Africa, tel +27 11 254 6400,
fax +27 11 254 6700/6704 or email enquiries@za.schneider-electric.com.
Stratosat Datacom, tel +27 11 974 0006 or fax +27 11 974 0068.
General Dynamics Satcom technologies, tel +1 828 464 4141, fax +1 828 464 4147 or email info@gdsatcom.com.
Brink & Heath Civils, tel +27 21 551 2640, fax +27 21 551 2977 or email admin@brinkheath.co.za.