SKA funding being negotiated

Funding issues for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) must be sorted out so the project can move forward.

Speaking this evening about the way forward for the SKA now that the shared bid has been announced, SKA SA project manager Bernie Fanaroff said there are several negotiations being carried out.

"The implementation is the difficult part. It's not coming to us on a plate. We're going to have to work very hard to implement it.

"We're now looking at the nitty gritty of what's required to build the infrastructure."

The project manager said funding agreements and hosting agreements are being negotiated now for the SKA.

Customs issues have to be considered, how to treat staff and scientists coming into the country, who will own the site, and who will own the telescope.

The negotiations are focusing on the duties of the board and the duties of SA as a host.

"The funding agreement is a big issue," said Fanaroff.

He added that all the participating countries are looking at which parts of the SKA they want to fund but the stringent economic times make it an intensive negotiation.

He also said the contributing countries want contracts for their industries so procurement is another issue to be dealt with.

"Being in SA, we're confident a lot of the contracts will come to our industry."

Fanaroff explained that the infrastructure requirements are vast and some are on track already.

Roads are being built, as well as an airstrip. A new power substation is being constructed and is almost ready to be switched on.

This is all in preparation for the SKA precursor array, the MeerKAT, for which the first dish will be ready by the end of 2013 or beginning 2014.

Once that's successful and approved the rest of the 64 will be rolled out.

This is a project that gets larger and larger as progress is made, said the project manager.

He added that many of the member countries were thinking of the SKA like telescopes they've built before and now they suddenly realise it's an enormous, complex, difficult project.

To exemplify, he pointed out that the fastest computers currently operate at a petaflop per second. The SKA requires an exaflop per second.

A petaflop equals about 88 000 processes at once so much more is needed for the SKA and with so many processes running simultaneously, something is expected to break approximately every 30 minutes.

"Another issue is power consumption. These are issues that have to be sorted out by 2018/19."

However, Fanaroff said SA is confident now that it's on the road.

"We're confident that by 2016 we'll be ready to start construction. We're going to see a lot of action. It's going to happen slowly but we've got momentum now."

SKA SA scientist Justin Jonas says the SKA and MeerKAT represent cutting edge projects coming out of Africa, by Africans, for Africans.

"We've always under-promised and over-delivered and that's going to be our motto going forward.

Former science and technology minister and current home affairs minister Naledi Pandor added that the SKA symbolises the renaissance of science being pushed on the African continent.

The SKA will be the largest and most sensitive radio telescope ever built. It will enable astronomers to glimpse the formation and evolution of the very first stars and galaxies after the Big Bang, investigate the nature of gravity, and possibly even discover life beyond Earth.

Pandor previously said the SKA can be justified in terms of foreign investment, job creation and international esteem.

"The SKA will bring in a billion euros in capital and operational expenditure. Where every radio telescope station is built, thousands of local jobs will be created. SKA will help in the provision of access to broadband connectivity in rural areas."