South Africa has revealed the value of its commitments to the current, preconstruction, phase of the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope, which will be jointly hosted by the country and Australia. These commitments are in the form of both cash and contributions in kind.
The SKA project is being driven by the international SKA Organisation, based in the UK, and the South African contribution for this phase is €4-million in cash and €12-million in kind, for a total value of €16-million. In comparison, Australia’s contribution to the SKA preconstruction phase is €20.7-million, divided into €5.8-million in cash and €14.9-million in kind. (This despite the fact that Australia will host the smaller part of the SKA and South Africa the larger part.)
In total, all the member states of the SKA Organisation have so far committed €23.4-million in cash to the preconstruction phase. Contributions in kind are expected to exceed €90-million.
These figures were released by the Minister of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom, in a written reply to a Parliamentary question from Congress of the People MP SK Plaatjie. He pointed out that the National Research Foundation had been granted R1.1-billion in the 2003/04 and 2011/12 financial years for expenditures related to South Africa’s bid to host the SKA. These funds come from both current and capital budgets.
In addition, the country has allotted some R2-billion in the medium term for the SKA and MeerKAT, the latter being South Africa’s 64-dish precursor radio telescope array which will be built in the Karoo region by 2016. MeerKAT will subsequently be incorporated into Phase 1 of the SKA.

Meanwhile, the SKA Organis-ation recently officially opened its new international head office, located at the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, in Cheshire, in England. This is one of the world’s leading radio astronomy observatories and home to the famous 76 m diameter Lovell radio telescope, first commissioned in 1957.

The new building is a state-of-the-art design which cost £3.34-million and was funded by the University of Manchester. It was opened by UK Universities and Science Minister David Willetts. “The Square Kilometre Array is set to be one of the world’s most exciting international science projects, giving us new and unparalleled insights into the universe,” he said. “The fact that the UK has been chosen to host the project office is recognition of our leading expertise in science, engineering and design. It will give us a leading role in the development and operation of this ground-breaking telescope.”
The head office will, in due course, house around 60 staff, including visiting scientists and engineers. It will be the global hub for the international project and will be the base for management of the design, construction and scientific output of the SKA. The building has actually been in use since November and has been designed for maximum energy efficiency and minimum environmental impact. It was built in just over six months and uses a glass facade to provide natural lighting.

“This wonderful new office, which offers our team stunning views of the Jodrell Bank site, including the famous Lovell telescope, will, we hope, inspire everyone who works here, and will provide our guests and visit- ing scientists a truly unique scientific facility to conduct their research and work,” affirmed SKA director-general Philip Diamond. “The limited environmental impact and energy efficiency goals we set with the construction of the project office are also in line with our long term aims for the entire SKA project.”