Pathway to the Square Kilometre Array - The German White Paper -

Understand

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is the most ambitious radio telescope ever planned.

• With a collecting area of about a square kilometre, the SKA will be far superior in sensitivity and observing speed to all current radio facilities.
• The scientific capability promised by the SKA and its technological challenges provide an ideal base for interdisciplinary research, technology transfer, and collaboration between universities, research centres and industry.
• The SKA in the radio regime and the European Extreme Large Telescope (E-ELT) in the optical band are on the roadmap of the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and have been recognised as the essential facilities for European research in astronomy.