SKA South Africa and Agri SA today signed an agreement that commits both organisations to jointly ensure that local communities of the Karoo benefit from the SKA project.
Square Kilometre Array
In anticipation of the impacts that the construction of the SKA radio telescope will have on the environment and local communities in the Karoo, SKA SA is partnering with civil society organisations to ensure that these impacts remain positive.
Currently, SKA SA is negotiating with landowners to buy 32 portions of land or a total of 118,000 hectares to build the core of the SKA. This will be sufficient land to build the entire core of the SKA radio telescope. Antennas will also be built across three spiral arms that will stretch out from the core. Use of the land for the purpose of establishing the spiral arms will be negotiated by establishing servitude agreements with landowners.
When constructed, the SKA will be the world’s largest radio telescope. Engineering teams from around the world are finalising the design of the telescope, while the international astronomy community prepares to use this next-generation facility.
The SKA will conduct transformational science to improve our understanding of the universe and the laws of fundamental physics, monitoring the sky in unprecedented detail and mapping it hundreds of times faster than any current facility.
