India celebrates joining SKAO as member country
India’s recent membership in the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) was celebrated at an event held at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) in Pune on Wednesday
India’s recent membership in the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) was celebrated at an event held at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) in Pune on Wednesday.
Secretary of the department of atomic energy (DAE) Ajit Kumar Mohanty and the secretary of the department of science and technology (DST) Prof Abhay Karandikar, alongside a small delegation from SKAO, led by its director-general Prof Phil Diamond were present for the event.
India formally joined the SKAO council aa member in July 2024, upon signing and ratifying the founding document, the Convention Establishing the SKAD. The Government of India had earlier approved participation in the international mega-science project with a substantial commitment of ₹1,250 crore, funded jointly by DAE and DST, to support India’s activities in the SKA project up to 2031.
India also plans to host an SKA Regional Centre (SRC) as part of a global network based in SKAO member states.
Prof Yogesh Wadadekar of NCRA-TIFR, who is coordinating the efforts to build the SRC in India, said, “The SRC will process, store and provide access to SKAO data products for the astronomy community. A prototype of this regional centre is being prepared at NCRA now and once it is completed, we will be working on the actual centre planning,”
Mohanty hailed this as a remarkable milestone which DAE has achieved in the platinum jubilee of its existence and this mega science international collaboration puts India ahead in the global scientific forum.
Prof Diamond said, “India’s contributions to the SKAO have been substantial, spanning science, engineering, and governance, as part of the group of nations who helped to establish our intergovernmental organisation. India’s membership further enhances the diversity of SKAO members globally, connecting five continents through scientific excellence to create one of the world’s most ambitious research infrastructures”.
Prof Yashwant Gupta, director of NCRA and the scientist leading India’s participation in the SKAO, said, “SKAO membership will bring many benefits to Indian industry as we plan to make in-kind contributions in a range of areas covering radio frequency electronics, digital hardware and signal processing systems, data processing software and also monitoring and control software.”