Watch: A Landmark Radio Astronomy Project Is About To Unveil Its First Prototype Dish

Researchers and engineers with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)— the largest radio telescope in the world will inaugurate the dish at a test site in Shijiazhuang, China. When complete, the SKA will be much more sensitive than current radio telescopes that collect electromagnetic signals from space. Researchers will use data collected by the linked arrays to investigate a wide range of questions including what happened just after the big bang and whether there is other life in the universe. Researchers expect to spend months testing two prototypes before attempting to move to full-scale production. The €674 million project will begin construction in 2020.