12.11.2025

Bremen-based OHB Digital Connect has been awarded a €10.7 million contract to supply 86 highly sensitive receivers for the Square Kilometre Array Observatory’s (SKA Observatory) SKA-Mid radio array.

The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKA Observatory) is an intergovernmental organisation established to design, build, and operate the world’s largest radio telescope. The observatory comprises two main components: SKA-Mid, a mid-frequency radio telescope array located in South Africa, and SKA-Low, a low-frequency array located in Australia. The observatory currently includes 16 member states.

Germany initially announced its intention to become a full SKA Observatory member in March 2023, with the process concluding 18 months later in November 2024. Along with the initial announcement, the country committed to contributing €21 million to the project. The country’s contributions to the SKA Observatory, however, predate its full membership by decades, having participated in several of the observatory’s engineering design consortia.

Under the SKA Observatory’s Fair Work Return policy, goods and services required by the observatory are, wherever possible, procured from within member countries to ensure a fair distribution of work in line with each nation’s contributions. The policy, however, is not a strictly proportional-based system like ESA’s Geo-Return policy.

On 3 November, OHB Digital Connect announced that it had been awarded Germany’s first contract for the SKA Observatory since the country became a full member. The contract will see the company provide 86 highly sensitive receivers for the SKA-Mid radio telescope array, which will feature 197 fully steerable dishes. According to a 3 November SKA Observatory press release, the receivers will detect radio signals in the frequency range known as Band 5, from 4.6 to 15.4 GHz, which is currently the highest frequency range SKA-Mid will observe.

OHB will work with Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn to develop the first five prototypes of the receivers. Following the acceptance of the prototypes, serial production of the remaining 81 receivers will begin at the OHB Digital Connect facility in Mainz, Germany.

Quelle: European Spaceflight LTD