Countries haggle over huge SKA telescope costs

By Ishmael Tongai. South African politicians were told last week that tricky and extended negotiations were under way to work out how much each country involved in the first-phase construction of the massive Square Kilometre Array, or SKA, radio telescope will have to fork out. Bernie Fanaroff, SKA South Africa’s project director, told members of parliament's science and technology portfolio committee last Wednesday that the major current issue was how to fund phase one of the project, which is expected to cost €650 million – US$868 million and about R8.9 billion in local currency. More...