What is Square Kilometre Array, the world’s largest radio telescope and India's critical role in it

India is increasingly and rapidly stepping up its game in space missions and discoveries. With a number of new upcoming missions planned by the space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India has also laid out its investment plans for a monetary contribution to the international astronomical collaboration project, which includes over 16 nations. The collaboration between the nations will be developing the world’s largest radio telescope called the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will be responsible for studying galaxies present in the universe. Additionally, it aims to make available the data as to evolution of our galaxy. Know what the project is about and how and when it will be ready to conduct research.

About Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

According to a report by the Print, the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope will be developed by 16 consortium members- Australia, South Africa, Canada, China, India, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Italy. India is contributing a whopping ₹1250 crore to the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project for its successful development. The development of the SKA telescope will mainly take place in Australia and South Africa.

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With the development of this radio telescope, researchers will be able to answer questions for physics and cosmology by studying the universe including our Milky Way Galaxy. The telescope is now under development and it will be built in two phases. The work was started in December 2022 and it is expected to be completed by 2029. As per reports, the significant aspect of the project is to study the Milky Way, therefore, the telescope is being built in the Southern Hemisphere to get better visibility of our home galaxy.

Once the development of the SKA telescope is completed and it is up and running, it is expected to be the world’s largest and most powerful radio telescope ever developed. Additionally, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project world's largest collaborative research project as it involves thousands of researchers from around the world with major nations participating. The telescope may also unveil the secrets of life outside the earth, therefore, we may also discover if aliens exist in our universe or not.

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