This page will be updated monthly to report the current conditions of the Observatory, and current expectations for data delivery.
Progress of some of the ASKAP Survey Science Projects has been slower than expected due to a range of issues, not limited to delays due to the Setonix system and other upgrades, competing resource allocation, time-consuming calibration, increased solar activity, lower than expected science quality of some data, and inefficient communications between the ATNF and Survey Science Teams. In response, the new ASKAP leadership team paused the existing meetings and communications to the SSTs, temporarily simplified the observing pool to only include those surveys reporting sufficient data quality in the low-band, and commenced a process to meet with the Principal Investigators of teams, and define a path forward to address the current concerns. This path was communicated to the SSTs in June 2025.
Current Projects in the Observing Pool (July 2025)
- EMU/POSSUM
- VAST Extragalactic
Next Projects in the Observing Pool (August 2025)
- WALLABY
- FLASH
- VAST Extragalactic
Expected Observing Schedule
This is the expected timeline for the progress of the Survey Science Projects. This timeline aligns with the RASSP recommendations, with an additional year, which extends into 2029. Realisation of this timeline is dependent on on-time delivery of projects under the Key Capabilities program, and no major failures in the telescope or HPC systems. This timeline will be updated monthly to reflect any changes, and these will be communicated to the community.
| Survey | Next data | Data at 1 June 25 + 1/4 survey completion* | Complete |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schedule version | V0.2 | V0.2 | V0.2 |
| EMU | July 2025 | mid 2026 | mid 2027 |
| WALLABY | Aug 2025 | early 2028 | late 2029 |
| FLASH | Aug 2025 | late 2025 | early 2026 |
| VAST_EXGAL | July 2025 | late 2025 | early 2027 |
| VAST_GAL | Oct 2025 | late 2026 | mid 2027 |
| HI_MAG | Nov 2025 | late 2026 | early 2029 |
| HI_GAL_PLANE | Apr 2026 | late 2027 | early 2029 |
| HI_MAG_STREAM | Oct 2026 | late 2027 | early 2029 |
| HI_GC | June 2027 | mid 2028 | late 2029 |
| DINGO_LOW_Z | Sept 2025 | late 2026 | late 2028 |
| DINGO_HIGH_Z | Sept 2027 | mid 2029 | Discussions underway with DINGO team** |
| OH_GAL_PLANE | Mar 2027 | early 2027 | mid 2027 |
| OH_GAL_CENTRE | June 2026 | mid 2027 | mid 2029 |
| OH_LMC | Nov 2026 | late 2026 | early 2028 |
| OH_BULGE | Feb 2026 | early 2026 | late 2026 |
**Working with DINGO on use of 4-hour observing blocks to expand observing season.
Tasks and progress milestones
The changes to the software pipelines and processes that underpin this proposed schedule are:
| Task | Detail | Responsible person | Expected completion | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meet with SSP PIs | George Hobbs (GH)/Cathryn Trott (CT) to meet with all teams | GH/CT | June 2025 | Completed |
| Weekly emails to PIs | Progress and plans emails to be sent weekly to PIs of SSPs | GH/CT | Ongoing | Up-to-date |
| Firmware upgrade | Minimise correlator drop-outs and other issues with spectral line observing modes | Stephen Ord (SO) | September 2025 | Scoped |
| Reference field calibration | Reduces calibration time, allowing easier band change | SO | August 2025 | Ready for testing with teams |
| Direction Dependent Calibration and out-of-field bright source subtraction | SO | August 2025 | Ready for testing with teams |