Joburg facility moves SKA project forward

Cape Town - Construction of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) took a definitive step this week with the inauguration of a manufacturing facility in Johannesburg.

The Stratosat Reflector Panel Manufacturing Facility is part of the Schauenburg International Group which won a tender to design and construct the 13.5m Offset Gregorian deep-space telescopes for the MeerKAT project.

The MeerKAT or Karroo Array Telescope will consist of 64 radio telescopes and will form the precursor to the mammoth SKA, so named because the dish area will form 1km².

The SKA will be built in SA and Australia and will allow astronomers to gaze back 13 billion years in time to moments after the Big Bang. It is estimated to cost around €1.5bn.

In a boost for South African technology manufacturing, the MeerKAT project requires that 75% of the components be manufactured locally.

Pressure to meet deadline

"This is a good example of intellectual property transfer and creation of local job opportunities associated with the MeerKAT project", said Dr Bernie Fanaroff of SKA SA.

The MeerKAT project is slated for completion by 2016 and the SKA is scheduled to go online in 2024.

Though the project was conceived as a test bed for the SKA, it has emerged as a science instrument in its own right and astronomers have already lined up to conduct cutting edge research into the dawn of the universe with the instrument when it comes online.

Watch MeerKAT project manager Willem Esterhuyse explain how the system works in this online video:

But despite the apparent smooth production of the array, there is continued pressure to ensure that it is delivered on time and to budget.

"There are ongoing issues: Justin [Jonas] for instance is responsible for making sure that the dishes are delivered to quality, to performance, to schedule; to cost," Dr Bernie Fanaroff, director of SKA South Africa told Fin24 about the role of Professor Jonas in the local organisation.

Fanaroff will retire at the end of 2015, Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor recently announced.

The site of the radio telescope is protected by law under the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act which prohibits any interference with radio astronomy at the location.

The construction of the telescopes must also be exact in order to give accurate data and the instruments must be able to withstand 144km/h winds.

In this video MeerKAT engineers explain how they will control the instrument situated in the Northern Cape province from Cape Town.

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