South Australia is in the running to become the home of the world's largest radio telescope, South Australian MPs were told today at a briefing in Parliament House, Adelaide.

Ten countries are planning the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope, which will be able to see back into the early Universe and observe the first galaxies forming.

Australia is a major player in the planning consortium and one of several countries that will bid to host the $1 billion project.

South Australia has some promising sites for the telescope, according to CSIRO's Dr Michelle Storey.

"Background levels of man-made radio signals are rising over much of the Earth's surface. They make it increasingly more difficult for radio telescopes to see the faint radio signals from the cosmos," she says.

"The SKA is going to be an incredibly sensitive telescope. Therefore it has to be sited in a 'radio-quiet' location.

"South Australia has many such sites. It also has flat stable land, a snow-free climate, and access to infrastructure and telecommunications links - all of which the telescope needs.

"The design of the telescope is not yet decided. Australia is proposing an array of large spherical radio receivers - like a flock of eggs on legs," she says.

Dramatically new technologies will be needed for the SKA, says Professor Ron Ekers, Director of CSIRO's Australia Telescope National Facility.

"Out of the SKA we're going to get 'smart antennas' and other breakthrough communications technologies," he says.

"This offers important opportunities for Australian industry." Dr Geoff Brownlie, BAE Systems, told the MPs that South Australian industry is already well equipped to be a major participant in the SKA program, should it be based in South Australia.

"Local industry and research institutions have the necessary technical skills in all SKA technologies, including antennas, microwave receivers, signal processing, communications, synthetic beamforming and the analysis of complex data," he says.

"South Australia could also contribute to the detailed design of the SKA and a significant proportion of the SKA system could be manufactured by SA industry."

Australian research institutions working on the SKA project include CSIRO, the University of Sydney and the Australian National University.

An international committee will choose the telescope site in 2005. Construction will take 10 years.

More information:

Professor Ron Ekers, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility 02 9372 4300

Dr Michelle Storey, CSIRO ATNF 02 9372 4590

Ms Helen Sim, CSIRO ATNF 02 9372 4251, 0419 635 905

Dr Geoff Brownlie, British Aerospace 08 8480 7794, 0419 813 442

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