meerkat

South Africa officially launched the first of 64 antennas that will make up the MeerKAT radio telescope, the country's precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), in the Northern Cape on Thursday.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope will transform perceptions of Africa, Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom said on Wednesday following the first ministerial meeting of the nine SKA African partner countries.

The 64th and final foundation for the MeerKAT radio telescope was poured on Tuesday at South Africa's Square Kilometre Array site in the Northern Cape. The MeerKAT is due to come online in 2016 both as a precursor to the SKA and as one of the most powerful telescopes in the world in its own right.

The first dish support structure for the Meerkat radio telescope, manufactured by South African company Tricom Structures, is ready to be transported to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) site in Carnavon in the Northern Cape.

It is billions of rand and years in the making, but once the Square Kilometre Array – most of which will be located in South Africa – is up and running, it will offer a clear hotline to the universe. The massive radio telescope installation will help scientists study the stars.

British Science Minister David Willetts will be touching down on Wednesday on a new all-weather landing strip in the Karoo, where South Africa is building the 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope, a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

As the first results from the European Space Agency's Planck satellite were being released last week, astronomers at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory near Johannesburg were working on a new radio telescope that will also shed new light on the earliest moments of the universe.

South African companies and institutions stand to benefit from the invitation for international consortia to bid for early-stage work on the Square Kilometre Array, an international effort to build the world's largest radio telescope, which will be co-hosted by South Africa and Australia.

South Africa is fast gaining a reputation as a leading stargazing destination, but the stars don’t come out just for people in the country’s most remote areas.
• Africa is the place to see stars

Square Kilometre Array South Africa is joining IBM and the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy in a four-year collaboration to tackle the "big data" challenge posed by the SKA - and in the process to lay the foundation for what is expected to be a completely new era in computing.