Radio astronomy is undergoing one of its most transformative periods since the invention of the radio telescope.
Single-dish instruments such as China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) ꟷ currently the world’s largest filled-aperture radio telescope continue advancing pulsar, neutral hydrogen, and transient astronomy. Yet the field is increasingly shifting toward distributed interferometric arrays operating collaboratively across continents.
This transition has accelerated the demand for high-performance computing, advanced networking, data-intensive infrastructure, and artificial intelligence (AI).
The convergence between radio astronomy and computer science, together with the move toward software-defined interferometric systems, is transforming radio astronomy into a software-driven science positioned at the forefront of large-scale computing, big-data analytics, and machine learning.
The rise of international radio astronomy facilities
Some of the world’s most influential radio astronomy facilities have shaped the evolution of modern observational science. The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), a U.S.-based project first built in the 1970s, established a benchmark for high-sensitivity imaging and digital radio astronomy. Similarly, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) hosted by Chile, comprises high-precision antennas operating at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths, revolutionizing the study of star and planet formation.
In Europe, the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) pioneered software-defined radio astronomy through large-scale digital beamforming and low-frequency sky surveys. Building on these developments, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), currently under construction in South Africa and Australia, is expected to become the world’s most sensitive radio astronomy facility, enabling transformational research in cosmology, galaxy evolution, pulsars, and transient astronomy.
The integration of observations from multiple facilities has produced major scientific breakthroughs. For example, the MIGHTEE survey, combining observations from South Africa’s MeerKAT and India’s upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT), has provided important new insights into galaxy evolution, cosmic magnetism, and large-scale cosmic structures.
From radio telescopes to AI-driven data infrastructure
The evolution from single-dish telescopes to large interferometric arrays has turned radio astronomy into one of the world’s most data-intensive sciences. Early observatories processed relatively modest datasets from individual antennas, but facilities such as the Arecibo Observatory (Puerto Rico, U.S.), the Green Bank Telescope (Virgina, U.S.), and FAST (Guizhou, China) have increasingly adopted high-performance computing to support pulsar timing, spectral-line surveys, and transient detection.
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) has further expanded computational demands by linking telescopes across continents to form Earth-sized virtual instruments. Networks such as the European VLBI Network and the multinational Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration rely on high-speed fibre networks and distributed supercomputing to process massive observational datasets that can generate several petabytes of data in assembling a key new astronomical observation.
AI and machine learning are now central to modern radio astronomy, supporting radio frequency interference mitigation, automated source classification, anomaly detection, and real-time transient searches. At facilities such as MeerKAT, machine-learning systems help manage the immense computational demands associated with continuous sky surveys.
Looking ahead, next-generation facilities such as the SKAO are expected to produce exabyte-scale datasets, driving innovation in distributed computing, cloud infrastructure, and AI-assisted analytics. These developments extend beyond astronomy into broader scientific and industrial applications, reinforcing radio astronomy’s growing role in advanced digital infrastructure.
International collaboration for combined observatories
Modern radio astronomy depends fundamentally on international collaboration. Contemporary observatories require global infrastructure, shared expertise, and substantial financial investment that no single country can provide independently.
The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration is a major example, using VLBI to combine the data from observatories across several continents to create an Earth-sized virtual telescope. Participating facilities included ALMA, the Submillimeter Array (SMA) in Hawaii (U.S.), the Large Millemeter Telescope (LMT) in Mexico, France’s centre for millimetre-wave astronomy, IRAM, and the U.S.-managed South Pole Telescope.
In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope produced the first image of the supermassive black hole M87, confirming key predictions of Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
Other successful collaborations include the European VLBI Network, linking telescopes across Europe, Asia, and South Africa, and the ALMA partnership involving European, North American, East Asian countries, along with host-country Chile.
The SKAO project between South Africa and Australia represents another landmark international initiative. Its precursor instruments, MeerKAT and the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), have already delivered detailed Milky Way maps, new pulsar discoveries, and observations of previously unseen radio structures while simultaneously advancing computing, networking, and AI technologies.
Radio astronomy and Africa’s scientific transformation
Radio astronomy has become a major driver of scientific, technological, and human-capacity development across Africa. Over the past two decades, through investments in infrastructure, international partnerships, and skills development, the continent has gained growing global stature in astronomy.
South Africa has played a leading role through MeerKAT and the SKA-Mid (Square Kilometre Array Mid-frequency) component of the SKAO. MeerKAT is currently among the world’s most sensitive radio telescopes and has already produced major scientific results, including detailed imaging of the Milky Way’s centre, discoveries of new pulsars, and studies of galaxy evolution and cosmic magnetism.
The SKA African Partner Countries ꟷ Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia ꟷ have also benefited through astronomy programmes, data centres, engineering initiatives, and human-capacity development. Several countries have converted former telecommunications dishes into functioning radio telescopes under the African VLBI Network (AVN), strengthening continental scientific participation.
Organizations such as the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the African Astronomical Society (AfAS), and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), as well as programmes like Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) and the Africa2Moon Project, have contributed significantly to education, policy development, scientific training, and outreach across the continent.
Africa’s growing participation in international scientific governance is also reflected through engagement with the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and particularly ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), where African countries increasingly contribute to discussions on spectrum management, sustainability, and international scientific cooperation.
African engagement ahead of WRC-27
The proposal by the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) to ITU’s last World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23) on the protection of radio astronomy from mega-constellations led to the establishment of a new topic for the next conference in the cycle, coming up in 2027. The new Agenda Item 1.16 asks the upcoming WRC-27 to consider rules to safeguard specified Radio Quiet Zones and global primary bands from aggregate interference.
South Africa hosts several important facilities Beyond MeerKAT and SKA-Mid, including the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO), which contributes to global geodesy, VLBI and space science research. The VLBI Global Observing System (VGOS) system at HartRAO forms part of the international geodetic infrastructure supporting precise timekeeping, Earth-orientation measurements, satellite navigation, climate monitoring, and sea-level studies.
South Africa is already engaging in discussions to support a possible WRC agenda item proposal for 2031 on the protection of global geodetic VLBI.
Radio astronomy initiatives like these are stimulating further advances in high-performance computing, AI, engineering, and data science while inspiring a new generation of African scientists and engineers. Radio astronomy is therefore not only expanding scientific discovery but also contributing to broader socioeconomic and technological development on the continent.
Source: https://www.itu.int/hub/2026/08/evolving-radio-astronomy-and-its-impact-on-africa/
