SKA: Construction to begin on world’s biggest telescope

One of the grand scientific projects of the 21st Century begins its construction phase on Monday.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be the largest radio telescope in the world when completed in 2028.

Split across South Africa and Australia, with a headquarters in the UK, the facility will address the biggest questions in astrophysics.

It will perform the most precise tests of Einstein’s theories, and even search for extra-terrestrials.

Delegations from the eight countries leading the project are attending ceremonies in the remote Murchison shire in Western Australia and in the Karoo of South Africa’s Northern Cape.