Sweden is helping to build the world’s largest and most advanced radio telescopes, now that the country’s first two industrial contracts for the SKA telescopes have been signed. Swedish technology companies AAC Omnisys and Qamcom will build receivers and digital converter systems, respectively, for the SKA Observatory’s telescopes in South Africa. Both contracts are based on research and long-term industrial collaborations at Chalmers and Onsala Space Observatory.
The SKA Observatory (SKAO) is an intergovernmental organisation bringing together nations from around the world. Its mission is to build and operate cutting-edge radio telescopes to transform our understanding of the universe, and deliver benefits to society through global collaboration and innovation. Chalmers and Sweden have been part of the SKA endeavour since its inception.
In August 2023, Sweden's first contract with SKAO was awarded to the technology company Qamcom, based in Gothenburg. Qamcom will supply subsystems with digital converters for three frequency bands for the SKA-Mid telescope. Using advanced signal processing, the equipment converts analogue radio signals from space into digital signals that can be analyzed by researchers.
Recently, the second Swedish contract with SKAO was awarded. The new contract, worth 12 million euro (ca 137 MSEK), goes to AAC Omnisys, which will supply receivers for the dish antennas of the SKA-Mid telescope in South Africa. AAC Omnisys is a subsidiary of AAC Clyde Space and has its headquarters in Gothenburg.
”The SKAO's telescopes will bring a revolution in the way we look at our universe, and we can look forward to many spectacular discoveries. To succeed in building the telescopes, though, both technical know-how and long-term partnerships are needed; so we need both university partners and industry partners. This collaborative work is what gives a return on investment, first in contracts like these and later in the form of science results,” says John Conway, director of Onsala Space Observatory and professor of radio astronomy at Chalmers.
AAC Omnisys will supply 80 receiver systems to the observatory. The receivers are the telescope's largest, each over a meter wide and weighing 180 kg. They are sensitive to radio waves in the telescope's lowest frequency band, Band 1 (0.35-1.05 GHz; wavelengths of 30-85 cm), and are based on a prototype that has been developed by Onsala Space Observatory at Chalmers and tested both in Canada and on site in South Africa.
When the telescopes are up and running, scientists will be able to explore the universe tens of times faster, with several times the resolution and sensitivity of today's most advanced radio telescopes.
”I’m delighted that Qamcom and AAC Omnisys have received these orders for the SKAO. At Big Science Sweden, we are proud to have been able to contribute to that, through our work to support the Swedish parties that have been involved,” says Patrik Carlsson, Co-Director Big Science Sweden.
The new order for AAC Omnisys is based on research and technical development work done at Chalmers, Onsala Space Observatory, AAC Omnisys and at the Gothenburg company Low Noise Factory.
”These successes show how important it is that Swedish researchers can enter early in development work at research facilities and that there is close collaboration between companies and researchers within academia, especially when it comes to this type of advanced technological development,” Patrik Carlsson says.
Big Science Sweden's efforts increase opportunities for Swedish industry and academia to strengthen and do business with the international research facilities. For a number of years, they have worked actively together with the SKAO and Swedish actors to bring Swedish competence and industrial ability to the SKAO, and also to bring technically interesting business to Sweden.
”Now we are working to create more Swedish opportunities with the SKAO by supporting the Swedish actors in deliveries and collaborations. We are also working to engage more Swedish companies with the capacity to deliver this type of technically advanced equipment to other facilities,” says Patrik Carlsson.
More about SKAO and Sweden
Chalmers represents Sweden in the SKA Observatory, a huge international project that builds the world's most advanced radio telescope in South Africa and Australia, and is among the world's largest research infrastructure projects.
The intergovernmental organisation SKAO (www.skao.int), in charge of building and operating the SKA telescopes, was founded in 2021 with head office near Manchester in the United Kingdom. Nine countries are currently members of the SKAO, with other countries are now in the accession stage and others pursuing discussions around the conditions of their accession domestically. In a partnership agreement between Sweden and the UK that was signed in June 2023, Sweden's government expressed its intention for Sweden to become a member state of the organisation. As with previous international research facilities such as CERN, the project is expected to give a boost to the member countries' industries, especially in the technology sector, including fostering innovation and creating highly-skilled jobs.
Previous press releases
Press release about Qamcom's contract with SKAO: https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/qamcom/pressreleases/qamcom-continues-its-odyssey-with-skao-to-unveil-the-secrets-of-the-universe-as-qamcom-is-awarded-a-new-extended-and-expanded-contract-3270904
Press release from AAC Clyde Space about the contract with SKAO:
https://www.aac-clyde.space/articles/aac-clyde-space-wins-sek-137-m-order-from-ska-observatory
Chalmers press release from 2018 on Band 1 prototype testing in South Africa:
Swedish receiver to catch cosmic waves in the world's largest radio telescope
Contacts
Robert Cumming, astronomer and communicator, Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, robert.cumming@chalmers.se, +46 70 4933114
John Conway, director, Onsala Space Observatory, professor in radio astronomy, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, john.conway@chalmers.se