Sa Seals Ska Observatory Deal

South Africa has signed the international treaty establishing the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) as an intergovernmental organisation tasked with building and operating the world's most powerful radio astronomy telescope.Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, who signed the Convention Establishing the Square Kilometre Array Observatory on behalf of the South African government, is in Rome, Italy, today.

The signing ceremony was presided over by Italy's Minister of Education, Marco Bussetti, and witnessed by ministers, ambassadors and other high-level representatives of countries participating in the SKA project. Seven countries, South Africa, Australia, China, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom, signed the treaty concluding four years of negotiations by government representatives and international lawyers, and kicking off the legislative process in each of the seven countries.

India and Sweden, who also took part in the multilateral negotiations, now have one year to sign the treaty.These nine countries will then form the founding members of the new intergovernmental organisation.

The treaty establishes the SKAO as only the second intergovernmental organisation dedicated to astronomy in the world, after the European Southern Observatory, and will ensure strong governance of the SKA project. "South Africa's signature on the establishment of the SKAO as an intergovernmental legal entity to oversee the construction and operational phases of the SKA project is a crucial milestone and one which should be celebrated," Kubayi-Ngubane said.

"What makes this particularly unique is the fact that, for the first time, Africa, Asia, Australasia and Europe have committed at inter-governmental level to collaborate on a...