Editorial

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

“The most momentous week of my professional career”; that’s what I wrote in a message to the SKAO’s senior staff in an email on 21June prior to the third meeting of the SKAO Council.

As described elsewhere in this edition of Contact, it was at that Council meeting that approval was granted for the start of construction of the two SKA telescopes. This decision is the culmination of a long journey that began more than 30 years ago with the first thinking about the need to explore the history of the Universe through hydrogen, the resultant technology developments that guided the design of the SKA telescopes, the search for and selection of the two telescope sites in Australia and South Africa, the brainstorming that resulted in the writing of a treaty and the establishment of the SKAO, the development of a compelling case to build and operate a sustainable observatory with a wider impact to society, the work to pull together a partnership of nations and the required funding, all culminating in the recommendation that Council approve the start of construction.

All those who have worked on the SKA project over the years should feel a sense of pride and satisfaction in this outcome, it would not have been possible without the effortsofahugenumberofpeoplefromacrosstheglobe, and I thank them all.

With that said, we are wasting no time and on 1 July procurement activities have formally began. Over the coming months the SKAO will place ~75 contracts in its Member States; amongst the first will be those for the two construction camps in the Karoo and the Murchison along with contracts for elements of the infrastructure and for Observatory software. Others will follow in due course. Building the telescopes will be a complex project management job, especially as the pandemic is still with us, but I am confident that the team is well prepared to overcome the challenges ahead.

As we are establishing the SKAO in Australia and South Africa I am very pleased that we have managed to recruit the key individuals who will play a prominent role for us in the site host countries, namely Dr Sarah Pearce and Dr Lindsay Magnus as the respective Telescope Directors and Antony Schinckel and Tracy Cheetham as the respective Site Construction Directors. I am looking forward to working closely with all four of them.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the Comms team on their work to develop the new SKAO brand, exemplified by the new logo. As in other areas of the project, the work behind this involved a large amount of international collaboration and consultation and has resulted in a high quality piece of work. I am especially impressed with the story that sits behind the logo. I hope you enjoy this eighth edition of Contact.

Prof. Philip Diamond, SKAO Director-General