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The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a global project to design and build a new generation radio telescope at metre to centimetre wavelengths. It will have a collecting area of order one million square metres spread over 3000 km, a sensitivity 100 times higher than the current most sensitive interferometer, an instantaneous field of view (FOV) of at least 1 square degree and, in some designs, more than one FOV allowing multiple simultaneous use. It will be an extremely powerful survey telescope with the capability to follow up individual objects with high angular and time resolution. The SKA science impact will be felt in astro-particle physics and cosmology, fundamental physics, galactic and extragalactic astronomy, and solar system science. Technological innovation, closely paralleling commercial IT developments, is key to the design concepts under investigation and to the cost goal of 1000 Euro/m2. Data transport rates are likely to be in the range of tera-bits/sec, with Pflops capacity required for the central processor. The selection of technologies for the SKA is scheduled in early 2009. A number of possible locations for the telescope are under investigation with a choice scheduled in late 2006. Construction of the array will take most of the next decade.
Richard Schilizzi has been International Project Director for the Square Kilometre Array Project since 1 January 2003. For the ten years previous to this he was foundation Director of the Joint Institute for Very Long Baseline Interferometry in Europe. He is also a professor of astronomy at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.