Foreword by Prof. Philip Diamond

Aerial view of the SKA Global Headquarters at Jodrell Bank at sunrise.

SKAO / Dragons Eye Filming

Dear colleagues,

Welcome to the first issue of the new, aptly named SKA publication, Contact. Contact is obviously a movie reference but the name also reflects our desire to connect the SKA community. As we emerge from the detailed design phase, move towards the establishment of the SKA Observatory and see construction on the near horizon, we decided to move away from our two previous newsletters (one internal to the project, the other aimed externally) to deliver a single magazine which will cover the growing range of SKA activities around the world. In this more ambitious format we will seek articles from across the community, from scientists in SKA science working groups, from engineering, design and construction teams, from precursor and pathfinder telescopes and occasionally from our government partners. This first issue of Contact is published at a period of heavy activity as the design teams prepare for the System Critical Design Review, scheduled for 9-12 December. Success in this review will enable us to prepare the SKA1 Construction Proposal and Operations Plan which we intend to submit to the SKA Observatory Council, upon its establishment. When the Council approves the proposal and commits the agreed funding, SKA will move into the construction phase of the project. So, the next 15 months or so will be an exciting period and we will endeavour to share progress and milestones to make sure you keep up-to-date on the most relevant happenings within the project. I hope you enjoy this new SKA publication. I’d like to thank all the authors who contributed to the first issue and I’m sure that our communications team will welcome feedback, suggestions for improvement and of course contributions to this publication, which is very much yours!

Prof. Philip Diamond, SKA Director-General