---
title: "Africa Unveils Massive Alien-Hunting Antenna Network"
description: "Thousands of engineers have been designing and working on a gigantic intergovernmental radio telescope network called the Square Kilometer Array (SKA)."
date: "2019-12-17"
modified: "2019-12-17"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/africa-unveils-alien-hunting-antenna"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "africa"
  - "extraterrestrial life"
  - "square kilometer array"
  - "the digest"
---

# Africa Unveils Massive Alien-Hunting Antenna Network

![Thousands of engineers have been designing and working on a gigantic intergovernmental radio telescope network called the Square Kilometer Array (SKA).](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/africa-unveils-alien-hunting-antenna-eight-countries1.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: SKA Telescope\</em\>*

## Pick It Up

Thousands of engineers have been hard at work on a gigantic intergovernmental radio telescope network called the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which will be so large that it will span eight countries in Africa.

The first handful of dishes have already been constructed, [*Wired* reports](<https://www.wired.com/story/square-kilometre-array-largest-scientific-structure-ever-africa/>), and when completed, the array will scan the skies for radio signals — including signs of alien life — up to billions of light-years away.

## Big Idea

The idea is to simulate a colossal dish by joining thousands of smaller dishes in a network, according to *Wired*. Once it's completed it will span eight African countries and will also join up to one million much smaller antennas planned for Australia.

The idea for the border-breaking endeavor reaches back to the early 1990s. In 2011, 13 countries decided to fund SKA and share its data.

## Big Plans

Only a handful of 50-foot-wide antenna dishes have been constructed so far in South Africa, with a total of up to 3,000 planned across the entire continent.

The African core site was constructed in an ancient seabed in Karoo, South Africa, and is made up of 66 triangular reflective panels.

The massive project is on a surprisingly efficient budget: the first 113 dishes is expected to be completed in 2027, with a total cost of $1 billion.

**READ MORE:** [The Largest Scientific Structure Ever Powers Up in Africa](<https://www.wired.com/story/square-kilometre-array-largest-scientific-structure-ever-africa/>) \[*Wired*\]

**More on hunting aliens:** *[SETI Scientist: Aliens May Have Left a Spy Probe Orbiting the Sun](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/seti-aliens-spy-orbiting-sun>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)