SKA opens headquarters in UK

Less than a year after siting the revolutionary Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in Southern Africa and Australia, the SKA Organisation has opened its new international headquarters located near to the Lovell Telescope at the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory in the UK..

"The Square Kilometre Array is set to be one of the world’s most exciting international science projects, giving us new and unparalleled insights into the universe”, said David Willetts MP, who conducted the opening ceremony of the new headquarters. “The fact that the UK has been chosen to host the project office is recognition of our leading expertise in science, engineering and design. It will give us a leading role in the development and operation of this groundbreaking telescope."

“The opening of the SKA headquarters at Jodrell Bank means that the world's largest radio telescope now has a home in the UK – a major milestone for this truly inspirational international science project to explore the origin and evolution of the Universe”, said John Womersley, CEO of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and Chairman of the SKA Organisation.

The £3.34 million building, funded by the University of Manchester, will eventually house upwards of 60 members of staff, including visiting scientists and engineers.

Built in the remote and radio quiet deserts of Australia and Southern Africa, the array comprises of thousands of radio telescopes and will also have dishes and antennas spread over thousands of kilometres to create a single giant telescope. Very faint radio waves are combined using powerful supercomputers making SKA more than 50 times more sensitive than any existing radio telescope on Earth.