The SKA Observatory has welcomed Germany as its newest member state. Germany now joins Australia, Canada, China, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and United Kingdom as full members, with more countries in the process of joining. Full membership marks the culmination of decades of German involvement in the SKA project. Germany contributed to six of the SKAO’s engineering design consortia, and researchers at German institutions are represented in all 14 SKAO Science Working Groups. MPIfR is co-funding the extension of South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope, along with SARAO and Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). The 14 MeerKAT+ dishes currently under construction will initially complement the telescope’s 64 existing dishes, before being integrated into the SKA-Mid telescope in the coming years.