Australia embarks on SKA telescope treaty negotiations

Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Science, Karen Andrews, today announced a new step towards realising Australia’s ambition to host next-generation radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

Visiting Australia’s SKA host site at Murchison in remote Western Australia, Parliamentary Secretary Andrews said recent pre-negotiation meetings in Brussels had cleared the way for treaty negotiations to begin.

“Treaty negotiations reflect a new chapter of engagement within the global project because they will solidify the rights and responsibilities of SKA member nations, paving the way for construction to begin in 2018,” Mrs Andrews said.

“Australian Government representatives are working to provide the best outcomes for our research, engineering and manufacturing communities, and for the SKA project as a whole.”

Treaty negotiations come as SKA preparations progress in Australia.

Added by Flornes Yuen on 2015-07-16