The SKA design has been an ongoing process for many years, with design studies from participating institutions all feeding in to making the SKA a truly exceptional instrument. The SKA Organisation first issued a Baseline Design document in early 2013 and then a Request for Proposals in the middle of March 2013, inviting research organisations and industry to participate in the work towards a final detailed design of the SKA telescope. To learn more about the design process of the SKA, visit the design process page.

As stated at that time, the purpose of the design activities is to prepare the SKA project at element level to proceed with the construction of the first phase of the SKA telescope (SKA1). In November 2013, 10 consortia, gathering experts from all over the world were formed to cover all of the components required to make the SKA a reality. A wide range of industrial, engineering and scientific organisations from all over the world is involved, representing over 500 people in 100 organisations on 5 continents. Details of the elements the consortia work on can be found on the work packages page.

The SKAO is moving towards finalising the detailed design of the SKA1 radio telescope which will culminate in Critical Design Reviews (CDR) for all the telescope products and associated infrastructure and power during the course of 2018.  The detailed design is being undertaken by 9 Design Consortia from across the world.

At the meeting of the SKA Board of Directors in July 2017, the SKA Board agreed to the following recommendations in relation to the budget, design and construction for SKA1:

1. The Design Baseline for all Design Consortia will be the basis for Critical Design Reviews and the long-term ambition of the SKA1 project.

• For SKA1-mid in South Africa, the Design Baseline includes the following: 133 antennas and associated infrastructure and power which includes 21 antennas located in three spiral arms with a maximum baseline of 150km;
• For SKA1-low in Australia, the Design Baseline includes the following: 512 stations in a large core and three spiral arms with a maximum baseline of 65km.

2. The SKA1 Deployment Baseline will be defined in the SKA Construction Proposal to be developed in the second half of 2019. Deployment Baseline will include as much of the Design Baseline as can be afforded at that time. The current Deployment Baseline is formulated on the assumption that €674M (2016 Euros) will be available. Scientific assessment of the proposed deployment baseline demonstrates that the SKA Observatory will deliver transformational science capabilities. Re-instatement of the omitted capabilities, up to the full restoration of the Design Baseline, is planned, either during or after the construction phase, should additional funding become available. The Deployment Baseline will be regularly reviewed by the SKA Science and Engineering Advisory Committee (SEAC) under the direction of the SKA Board.

The implications to these SKA Board approvals are that the scaling options, as well as the steps taken to reduce the cost of the Design Baseline will be implemented to achieve the current calculated Deployment Baseline. The current Deployment Baseline includes the following:

• For SKA1-mid in South Africa: 130 antennas and associated infrastructure and power which includes 18 antennas located in three spiral arms with a maximum baseline of 120km;
• For SKA1-low in Australia, the Design Baseline includes the following: 476 stations with a maximum baseline of 40km.

The list of partners is vast and can be seen all over the map above. Zoom in and click on each partner organisation to see what part or parts of the SKA jigsaw they will be working on, and find out more about each partner and their own background.

Key documents, including baseline design, level 0 and level 1 requirements as well as upcoming deliverables milestones for elements/consortia are available here.