First design complete for world's largest telescope project

BEIJING: The world's largest radio telescope project Square Kilometre Array (SKA), designed for detailed understanding of the universe, has come one step closer to construction with the completion of its first phase design.

The project, currently supported by 11 countries including India, encompasses two complementary world-class telescopes in Australia and South Africa.

The project's first phase will cost $700 million, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Construction is due to start in 2018, with initial observations in 2020, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted CAS National Astronomical Observatories as saying.

The telescope arrays, designed to monitor and map the sky in unprecedented detail and speed, aim to improve understanding of the universe and the laws of fundamental physics.

The project is currently supported by 11 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

More than 100 companies and institutions in 20 countries are involved in research and development.