The SKA Observatory (SKA Observatory) on Monday celebrated the beginning of the on-site construction of the world’s largest radio astronomy infrastructure and telescopes in South Africa and Australia.
The development marks a significant milestone after a 30-years period when the SKA project was first conceptualised, including several years of design and engineering work.
The telescope will be built at a cost of $1 billion and will be completed in 2028.
The construction and operations of the telescope will be managed by the SKA Observatory (SKAO) – an intergovernmental organisation established in 2021 with its headquarters at Jodrell Bank, Manchester.
“I welcome the awarding of the SKA-MID infrastructure contract to South Africa by the SKAO as part of the construction of the mid-frequency components of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA1 MID) telescope in Carnarvon in the Northern Cape,” said Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Dr. Blade Nzimande.
“I wish to congratulate Power Adenco Joint Venture (Pty) Ltd who has been appointed as the successful bidder for the tender to build the major civil infrastructure, which includes the roll-out of power, fibre, and roads.
“The value of the contract is R889 million, making it the biggest SKAO contract award to a South African-based company.
“Of great importance in the awarding of this contract is the requirement of local participation, which will see Power Adenco providing a range of sub-contract opportunities and benefits to local communities.
“We expect up to R100 million will be spent with local SMMEs, employment of local people, training and transferring skills to local people, supporting local businesses and implementing community development initiatives in conjunction with SKAO and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory.”
This contract is in addition to recently awarded contracts to SARAO and other South African companies such as VIVO, Zutari, and EMCOM. SARAO has been awarded a software development contract valued at R150 million.
A total estimated value of these contracts is R1.2 billion that have now been awarded to South African entities, with further contracts expected.
Furthermore, it is expected that the leasing of buildings to be constructed, and ongoing technical maintenance and operations of the SKA radio telescope for the next 50 years will deliver long-term, sustainable foreign investment to South Africa.
Over and above the direct foreign investment and the indirect return on investment in the form of job creation, SMME development, human capital development, science tourism, and other related benefits, the SKA will continue to enhance South Africa’s international reputation as a partner and destination for science and technology investment and collaborations.
This return on investment is a testament to the hard work done by South Africa over the past 20 years when we started to invest in the development of MeerKAT telescope and associated human capital development programmes.
The local design, manufacturing and construction of the MeerKAT telescope by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory proved that South Africa has extremely competent technical and engineering capabilities.
The MeerKAT telescope continues to receive scientific accolades from across the world for several amazing discoveries that is undertaking since it was launched in 2018.
Many of these discoveries have been delivered by the local astronomy community, which has grown exponentially and transformed over the last decade to become globally competitive.
The SKA1 MID will ultimately see 133 dish antennas added to the existing 64-dish MeerKAT telescope, totalling nearly 200 dishes of 15 meters in diameter each. Most dishes will be concentrated in a core, with three spiral arms extending over 150km.
The involvement of South African entities in the construction of the SKA and the transfer of benefits through these contracts to the local communities is but one of the many ways that the country will continue to realise the rewards of its involvement and investments in the global SKA project.
The minister also congratulated the SKAO for delivering on their promises of ensuring that South Africa and other member countries get their fair share of returns, and this demonstrates that major scientific projects of this nature can make positive socio-economic impacts.
