Introduction by the Managing Director, Pontsho Maruping – SARAO Anniversary Report
The SKA South Africa project was established in 2003, and it has been five years since the inauguration of the MeerKAT telescope in 2018. To celebrate these anniversaries, we provide a report on the project from its beginnings as well as an overview of the current landscape of radio astronomyrelated activities in South Africa.
Within the next few years, MeerKAT will be integrated into SKA-Mid and become part of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO). However, given the fact that data is being collected at a much higher rate than it is being processed to generate science, publications from the standalone MeerKAT will continue to flow for a much longer period. SARAO will retain the resources to meet this challenge and at the same time channel resources towards developing South Africa’s SKA Regional Centre (SRC), which will provide access to data products, a platform for advanced scientific analysis, user support and training for astronomers using data generated by the SKA telescopes.
More than 200 refereed publications have their origins in data acquired with the MeerKAT telescope. The MeerKAT science rests on a platform of engineering expertise and precision that has given MeerKAT an iconic status as South Africa’s flagship high technology project. This has meant a multi-disciplinary team of civil, mechanical, electronic, software and systems engineers as well as scientists, working hand in glove to ensure the best instrument is designed and built.
As MeerKAT construction and commissioning drew to a close, a number of those involved moved over to assist with SKA-Mid construction, both within SARAO and the SKAO itself. Others were welcomed at sister observatories in other parts of the world, and some opted to continue their careers in related industries in South Africa and abroad. Despite that, SARAO continues to retain a cohort of highly skilled engineers to execute the construction work packages for SKA-Mid, continues work as part of the observatory establishment and delivery plan, and provides maintenance services to the SKAO. The team will also focus on a research and technology development programme to design instrumentation that can be deployed locally and around the world.
Another indispensable pillar is the human capital development (HCD) in science and engineering, without which South Africa’s dividend from having constructed MeerKAT and continuing to participate in the SKA would be much smaller. When South Africa’s journey to the SKA began in 2003, there were only about five local radio astronomers, while today approximately a quarter of MeerKAT proposals are led by South Africans. It was important to build the local radio astronomy community as quickly as possible so that our country could reap the intellectual benefits of investing in this exciting global project. South Africa has also made good on its commitment to the African partner countries by building science capacity and extending the HCD support to students from Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia. The SARAO HCD programme is an excellent example of what can be done over a relatively short period of time to create a national leading edge competence.
This report pays tribute to the men and women, past and present, who have been part of this exciting 20-year journey
Pontsho Maruping, Managing Director, SARAO
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