India’s recent membership in the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) was celebrated at an event at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) in Pune on 13 November 2024. The event was attended by senior government officials, including the Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Dr. Ajit Kumar Mohanty, the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Prof. Abhay Karandikar, alongside a delegation from SKAO, led by its Director-General Prof. Philip Diamond CBE.
Furthermore, members from academic institutions including those within the SKA-India Consortium (SKAIC), industry partners, and others were also present to commemorate this occasion.
From left: An artist’s impression of the future SKA-Mid dishes blend into the existing precursor MeerKAT telescope dishes in South Africa. From right: A artist’s impression of the future SKA-Low stations blends into the existing AAVS2.0 prototype station in Australia. Credit: SKAO Facebook
India formally joined the SKAO Council as a member in July 2024, upon signing and ratifying the founding document, the Convention Establishing the SKAO. The Government of India had earlier approved participation in this international mega-science project with a substantial commitment of ₹1250 corer (a little over $228 million AUD), funded jointly by DAE and DST, to support India’s activities in the SKA project up to 2031.
The SKAO is an intergovernmental organization bringing together nations from around the world to build and operate cutting-edge radio telescopes to transform our understanding of the Universe, and deliver benefits to society through global collaboration and innovation.
Nobel Laureate in Physics and Astrophysicist at the ANU Mount Stromlo Observatory and ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Prof Brian Schmidt, shared his feelings with The Australia Today about India joining SKAO.
“It’s exciting to see India join the SKA Observatory given its long history of radio astronomy excellence, as well as its technical capability and contributing to the development of the telescopes, which is going to be an ongoing program into the future.”
“Indian astronomers will be in the middle of the discoveries that the Square Kilometre Array Observatory will make, and I think a lot of the technology will come back to energize people and new companies to do things that we haven’t even thought of yet”, said Prof Schmidt.
The observatory has a global footprint and consists of the SKAO Global Headquarters in the UK, the SKAO’s two telescopes at radio-quiet sites in South Africa and Australia, and associated facilities to support the operations of the telescopes.
The Observatory’s membership now stands at 12 countries, with several more working through the national governmental processes required to join. India’s participation further enhances the diversity of SKAO members globally, connecting 5 continents through scientific excellence to create one of the world’s most ambitious research infrastructure organizations.
The Indian government was a party to the multilateral negotiations resulting in the final text of the Convention, and participated in the preparatory activities that led to the SKAO’s creation in early 2021. This makes India one of the SKAO’s founding members, alongside the initial signatories.
Dr. Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Secretary DAE, hailed this as a remarkable milestone which DAE has achieved in the platinum jubilee of its existence and this mega science international collaboration puts India ahead in the global scientific forum.
Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary DST, commented that DST is proud to be a partner of SKA Observatory (SKAO) project which aims to build the biggest and most sensitive radio astronomy observatory for addressing a variety of cutting-edge science goals.
“India, with its strong tradition in radio astronomy research is well placed to contribute significantly to the building of the SKAO. For this, we are enthusiastic to contribute both in-kind through different work packages and via cash payments, towards establishing this next generation facility,” said Prof Karandikar.
Prof. Phil Diamond, Director General of SKAO stated,
“India’s contributions to the SKAO have been substantial, spanning science, engineering, and governance, as part of the group of nations who helped to establish our intergovernmental organization. India’s membership further enhances the diversity of SKAO members globally, connecting five continents through scientific excellence to create one of the world’s most ambitious research infrastructures”.
He added “The SKAO’s growth is an acknowledgement that being part of this unique endeavor brings a multitude of benefits, enabling domestic innovation to thrive, facilitating collaboration across borders, and creating broader socio-economic benefits that can help to address our shared global challenges.”
The Indian participation in SKA is a truly nationwide, inclusive project led by the SKA-India Consortium (SKAIC) consisting of 24 academic and research institutes, with NCRA-TIFR as the nodal institute. Prof Pankaj Jain of IIT Kanpur, who is the Chair of the Consortium, stated,
“I am absolutely delighted that now India has formally joined SKA as a full member. India has always had a very strong tradition in Radio Astronomy. In recent years it has touched new heights with many educational institutions also developing strong groups that are working in all aspects of this field. This is particularly satisfying for me as a teacher since it allows us to involve students in an awe-inspiring research project whose scale and potential science implications are mind boggling”.
India has been deeply involved in design and development work since the SKA project’s inception from around 2012 onward, and has made significant contributions to the critical software elements that sit at the heart of the SKA telescopes. Building on NCRA’s leading role in the international Telescope Manager consortium during the detailed design phase, India will continue its work to supervise the development of the Observatory Monitor and Control system.
Akin to the brain and nervous system of the observatory, this Monitor and Control system will issue the commands required to carry out astronomical observations for our global community. In delivering this crucial element, India will call upon the expertise of a thriving software industry and decades of experience in developing radio astronomy facilities, not least the innovative, recently upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT).
In this context, Prof. Yashwant Gupta, Centre Director of NCRA and the scientist leading India’s participation in the SKAO, mentioned,
“As well as giving the Indian astronomy community access to the best facility in low and mid-frequency radio astronomy in the world, SKAO membership will bring many benefits to Indian industry as we plan to make in-kind contributions in a range of areas covering radio frequency electronics, digital hardware and signal processing systems, data processing software and also monitoring and control software.”
“The technological knowledge and experience of working in/for the SKAO will also benefit the growth of research and development activities in India, both in terms of existing radio astronomy facilities as well as in applications to other allied fields of research,” added Dr Gupta.
SKA-Low Telescope Director Dr Sarah Pearce told The Australia Today that the SKA telescopes – SKA-Low in Australia and SKA-Mid in South Africa – are next-generation science facilities and the most advanced radio telescopes ever built. She said that the science made possible by the SKA telescopes will revolutionise our understanding of the Universe and help us answer questions that have so far mystified astronomers.
“The telescopes are like time machines – we’ll see things we’ve never been able to see in the history of humanity. The SKA-Low telescope in Australia will be able to map the sky 135 times faster than other state-of-the-art telescopes, and will be so sensitive that it can detect the faintest radio signals that have travelled billions of light years across space.”
“Australia is a founding member and host country for the SKA Observatory’s low frequency radio telescope, SKA-Low, currently under construction on Wajarri Yamaji Country in outback Western Australia. This is the first time that Australia is co-hosting a mega science facility on behalf of the international community, enabling Australian businesses and individuals to be at the forefront of global innovation across a variety of science and technology areas,” added Dr Pearce.
Indian astronomers have been active in almost all interesting scientific areas relevant to the SKA. Scientists working at Indian institutions are active in 12 of the SKAO’s Science Working Groups, and hold co-chair positions in several of them. Prof. Tirthankar Roy Choudhury of NCRA, who coordinates the scientific activities related to the SKA in India, highlighted,
“It is noteworthy that Indian institutions have hosted numerous SKA-related workshops and conferences, most notable being 2016’s international SKA Science Meeting. India also plans to host an SKA Regional Centre (SRC) as part of a global network based in SKAO member states. Prof. Yogesh Wadadekar of NCRA-TIFR, who is coordinating the efforts to build the SRC in India, said “the SRC will process, store and provide access to SKAO data products for the astronomy community.”
Mr Sunil Ganju, Head of the Institutional Collaborations and Programs Division at DAE said that India’s membership in SKAO demonstrates the commitment of the Government of India towards our efforts at scientific excellence and international collaboration. He added that this milestone is a rich tribute to the legacy and vision of the father of radio astronomy in India, Professor Govind Swarup. He acknowledged the tireless efforts of the scientists and the support of the policy makers and the funding agencies for the same.
India’s radio astronomy community, led by the late Prof. Govind Swarup, put forward one of the first concepts for a large radio observatory of the class of the SKAO in the 1990s. Today, a consortium of more than 20 academic and research institutes contributes to India’s participation, led by NCRA and its Director Prof. Yashwant Gupta, who’s been championing India’s efforts in the SKA project for over a decade.
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