On 5 June, Germany announced it will withdraw from the Square Kilometre Array next summer. The move came as a shock to SKA officials and to Germany’s astronomers and physicists, who are now lobbying to remain in the international effort to build the world’s largest and most powerful radio telescope.
If the decision stands, Germany’s companies will not be eligible to compete for SKA construction contracts and its scientists will lose access to the telescope. Because of data-access rules established this spring, “nonmembers’ ability to use the SKA will be severely compromised,” says project director general Philip Diamond. At present, Germany has the third-largest community involved in the science planning for the SKA. “For a whole generation of people working in radio astronomy, gravitational waves, and other areas, other countries will all of a sudden become much more attractive,” says University of Hamburg astrophysicist Marcus Brüggen.
A spokesperson for the...
