A major component of the SKA telescope will be an extensive array of approximately 3 000 antennas. Half of these will be concentrated in a 5 km diameter central region, and the rest will be distributed out to 3 000 km from this central concentration. We are partnering with Namibia, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique and Zambia to host these stations. The African Union fully supports the continent's SKA ambitions.

These antennas will all be connected via a data communications network to a very large and powerful data processing facility on the core SKA site in the Northern Cape Province. The combined collecting area of all these antennas will add up to one square kilometre. The telescope will be operated and monitored remotely from Cape Town, where the operations and science centre will be located.

The SKA will be one of the largest scientific research facilities in the world and will consolidate Southern Africa as a major hub for astronomy in the world. It will attract the best scientists and engineers to work in Africa and will provide unrivalled opportunities for scientists and engineers from African countries to engage with transformational science and cutting edge instrumentation and to collaborate in joint projects with the most renowned universities and research institutions in the world.

Hosting the SKA would be a major accomplishment for the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Programme (AGAP), an initiative by the South African government to establish a hub of world-class astronomy facilities in Southern Africa. Other major astronomy facilities in the region include the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) in the Karoo, and the HESS gamma ray telescope in Namibia.

Why in the Northern Cape?

The Karoo region of the Northern Cape Province is ideal for radio astronomy, because it is remote and sparsely populated, with a very dry climate. There is minimal radio frequency interference from man-made sources such as cellular phones and broadcast transmitters, and the lack of commercial activity in the area will ensure that this radio quietness will continue into the future.

South Africa's Parliament passed the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act of 2007, which declares the Northern Cape Province as an astronomy advantage area. An area of 12.5 million hectares around the proposed core of the SKA will be protected as a radio astronomy reserve, with strict regulations controlling the generation and transmission of interfering radio signals in the reserve and the area around it.

Want to know more?

South Africa's competitive advantage
Southern Africa is fast becoming a hub of activities in the field of astronomy and related technologies. Winning the SKA bid will be a major step forward for the government's Astronomy Geographical Advantage Programme (AGAP).

Factsheet: SKA for Africa
Download a factsheet about SKA for Africa and Africa for SKA.

Factsheet: Africa - site for the SKA
A factsheet about Africa being an outstanding and affordable site for the SKA.

Factsheet: Africa - future scientists and engineers
A factsheet about future scientists and engineers from Africa for Africa.