The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Observatory (SKAO) this week saw the first ever SKAO Ministerial Council meeting, and also, again for the first time, addressed the G20 Research and Innovation Ministerial Meeting. Both events were held on Tuesday in South Africa, in the run-up to the 2025 G20 Summit, to be held in Johannesburg in late November. (The G20 is composed of 19 major economies, plus the AU and the EU.)

The UK-based SKAO is an intergovernmental organisation, responsible for the building and operation of the SKA telescope. The SKA, now under construction, will be composed of two arrays – a mid-frequency array (SKA-Mid) of 197 dishes in South Africa and a low-frequency array (SKA-Low) of 130 000 simple antennas in Australia. SKA-Mid would be located alongside South Africa’s 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope array, which is being augmented by 14 new MeerKAT extension dishes provided by Germany and Italy.

“With its 16 participating countries spread across five continents, the SKA Observatory is truly testament to the power of science to have a positive impact,” highlighted SKAO director-general Professor Philip Diamond, in his address to the G20 Ministers. “In building these two giant, complex cutting-edge machines, this unique global collaboration of nations is also tackling some of society’s biggest challenges, like providing decent work, economic growth and quality education, driving innovation, embracing cleaner energy, preserving Indigenous culture and heritage, protecting life on land as well as dark and quiet skies, and striving for a truly diverse workforce, all themes that feature prominently on the G20 agenda.”

At the SKAO Ministerial Council Meeting, the Ministers were briefed about the progress with the project, and its impact. So far, industrial contracts worth €900-million have been placed in all the participating countries. Five dishes have been erected in South Africa and 12 000 antennas installed in Australia. Both systems are now being brought slowly into operation.

Also this week, on Wednesday, the SKAO, South Africa’s Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), arranged a visit by high-level representatives of 26 countries to the MeerKAT/SKA-Mid site, in the Northern Cape province. In addition to various briefings, the visitors also met the local beneficiaries of support programmes funded by SARAO and international partners, including school children and recently-trained night-sky guides (for the developing astronomy tourism sector) and rangers (for the MeerKAT National Park).

“Astronomy has been a strategic priority for South Africa, and the SKA project embodies this vision,” pointed out DSTI director-general Dr Mlungisi Cele. “It’s more than a scientific endeavour, it’s a driver for socioeconomic transformation, and a catalyst for developing the next generation of scientists, innovators and engineers.”