Synchronizing the World’s Largest Radio Observatory
Safran is proud to contribute to the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), one of the world’s most ambitious scientific infrastructures. The SKAO is the intergovernmental organisation building two complementary radio telescopes located in Australia and South Africa, which together will form the world’s largest and most capable radio astronomy facility. Our ultra-precise timing and synchronization technologies enable the telescopes’ widely distributed antennas to operate as perfectly synchronized instruments, paving the way for groundbreaking discoveries about our Universe.
The observatory consists of two complementary radio telescopes designed to explore different regions of the radio spectrum:
- SKA-Low, located in Western Australia, will comprise an array of 131,072 low-frequency antennas distributed across 512 stations.
- SKA-Mid, located in South Africa, will include an array of 197 high-precision dish antennas operating at higher frequencies.
The SKAO will help scientists answer some of humanity’s biggest questions: How did the first stars and galaxies form? What is dark energy? Does Einstein’s theory of gravity still hold under the most extreme conditions? It will also improve our understanding of the Sun, cosmic magnetism and the evolution of galaxies.
Rather than relying on a single giant “dish” telescope, the SKAO combines the signals received by many smaller antennas spread over vast distances. Synchronizing every antenna with extraordinary precision enables each array to operate as a telescope of enormous size, delivering unprecedented resolution.
This extraordinary level of performance is only possible thanks to an ultra-precise timing and frequency distribution network.
Safran has been selected to design, supply and commission this mission-critical synchronization system. Our solution distributes the master timing for the Mid telescope and the master timing combined with the frequency reference for the Low telescope—including the SKA-Low 1 PPS timing signal and the 10 MHz reference—with sub-nanosecond accuracy across hundreds of kilometres.
Using Safran’s White Rabbit technology, every antenna receives the same timing and frequency reference with picosecond-level precision over optical fibre networks. This enables each telescope to operate as a single perfectly synchronized instrument.
By delivering one of the world’s most demanding synchronization systems, Safran is helping transform an ambitious scientific vision into reality, enabling discoveries that will shape our understanding of the Universe for decades to come.
| Project at a glance | |
|---|---|
| SKA-Low antennas | 131,072 |
| SKA-Low maximum distance between stations | 74km |
| SKA-Mid dishes | 197 |
| SKA-Low collecting area | 419,000 km² |
| SKA-Mid collecting area | 33,000 m² |
| SKA-Mid maximum distance between dishes | 150 km |
| Synchronization accuracy | Picoseconds |
| Telescope locations | Australia & South Africa |
Project milestones
- November 2023 – Detailed Design Review successfully completed
- May 2024 – First SKA-Low systems commissioned (AA0.5)
- August 2025 – SKA-Low AA1 milestone achieved
- November 2025 – First SKA-Mid systems commissioned (AA0.5)
- Upcoming milestones:
- Q3 2026 – SKA-Low AA2 commissioning
- Q4 2026 – SKA-Mid AA1 commissioning
