Prof. Philip Diamond, SKAO Director-General

Dear Friends and Colleagues, The last two years have been a strange time for all of us and the recent tragic events of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have added to the stresses that the world is experiencing.

On top of the human suffering and tragic consequences of the war, global science’s skies have also darkened. Interferences are being seen in multi-national collaborations, putting to the test the ‘Science without borders’ motto that we, and more generally the science and astronomy community worldwide, embrace on a daily basis in our activities. The SKAO was born global, and international cooperation is in our DNA. Our Observatory has become over time a significant and powerful instrument of science diplomacy, bridging nations and people under a common umbrella for the advancement of science, but more generally the promotion of peace, development and friendship. Any aggression or other form of hostility goes against the SKAO’s ethos and the values the Observatory stands for. My heart bleeds for the people of Ukraine and I sincerely hope that the war comes to an end in the very near future.

On a very different note, I am pleased to tell you that, at the time of writing (and as reported on page 10), the construction phase of the SKA project is proceeding well, with 36 contracts, totalling €138M signed and running. This is due to the highly professional performance by the entire team, both within the SKAO and across our partners. To date we are tracking the Cost Book, that is our original estimates of the cost of construction; we have also seen no significant slippage in either schedule or scope. However, inevitably, there are clouds on the horizon. We are far from immune to the impacts of the pandemic, the global supply chain troubles, the rising cost of energy and inflation. As we receive the bids for the major infrastructure contracts, we expect to see the impact of those issues. We are in discussion with the SKAO Council about how best we might mitigate the effects, but as you might imagine, it is not an easy problem to solve.

In this tenth edition of Contact, you’ll be able to read about a wide variety of subjects, from the latest wonderful science being undertaken by the SKA Pathfinder and Precursor telescopes – which give a tantalising preview of what the SKA telescopes will be able to achieve, to news from across the global SKA partnership. There’s a short article on Switzerland becoming the eighth Member of the SKAO, including a 2-minute chat with the two Swiss Council members. There is much more to find in the following pages, I hope you enjoy reading it.

PROF. PHILIP DIAMOND, SKAO DIRECTOR-GENERAL