Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane says the completion of the Square Kilometre Array telescope at Carnavon in the Northern Cape remains on track for 2021.
She was speaking at a media briefing in Cape Town during the annual Africa Ministerial Forum which looks at radio astronomy on the continent with eight partner countries.
South Africa and Australia were selected to co-locate the world’s largest radio telescope.
The African Very Long Baseline Interferometry (AVN) project is a network of radio telescopes being constructed across the SKA African partner countries.
The telescopes will form part of a global network and are intended to prepare the African partners to play their part in hosting the SKA as well as stimulating astronomy in Africa. South Africa is a leading the project on the African continent.
Kubayi-Ngubane says they’re discussing various funding models with African member countries like Ghana, Zambia and Kenya.
“The project is a long-term project. Currently, we’re looking at 2021. We won’t be able to say how far we have gone. Obviously, you can’t say you are done, every time there’s more milestones, but for now those milestones will go up to 2021,” says Kubayi-Ngubane.
Ghana recently became the first of the eight African SKA partner countries to complete the conversion of a communications antenna into a functioning radio telescope. Since its launch, the Kuntunse Radio Telescope has successfully carried out its First Light observations. Ghana’s Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
“We couldn’t have done that without the help of South Africa and we are excited about that, not only that, we also have a high performance computing satellite station we have scientists trained and technologists who are there partnering us in this job.”
To date, the Meerkat, consisting of 64 dishes, or antennas, has been completed at the SKA site. It is now being tested and verified. It’s was built to help develop technology for the SKA.
The delegation will on Wednesday visit the SKA site and experience first hand the strides being made in Science and Technology at the site at Carnarvon, in the Northern Cape.
