UK to build SKAO telescope software

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More than £15m has been awarded to UK institutions to deliver the software ‘brain’ of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO)’s radio telescopes.

SKAO
Artist’s impression of the SKA-Low telescope in Australia. The 131,072 dipole antennas will survey the radio sky in frequencies as low as 50Mhz. In the background are dishes of the ASKAP radio telescope, an SKA precursor (credit: SKAO)

The SKAO is set to explore the evolution of the early universe from its UK headquarters at Jodrell Bank, near Manchester.

It will oversee delivery and operations of two complementary arrays with 197 radio telescope dishes located in South Africa, and more than 130,000 low-frequency antennas in Western Australia.

SKAO’s expansion was co-funded by the UK government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) through STFC. It recently received the go-ahead from its member states to start construction, which is expected to be completed by the end of the decade with telescopes anticipated to operate for over 50 years.

“As well as providing the foundation for new galaxy-level discoveries, this award will help to guarantee future contracts for UK industry, secure skilled jobs and develop a highly-transferrable technology in the UK, channelling more money back into the UK economy,” said science minister George Freeman.

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