Organization and WBS

Currently, the SKA Program Development Office (SPDO), based at the University of Manchester (UK), is the central organisation and is preparing a costed design that will be completed by 2012.

At November 2011, the SKA project was established as a stand-alone legal entity named The SKA Organisation (TSO). The governance structure of the SKA organization is shown in the figure. In late November the seven initial members of TSO (Australia, China, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and UK) signed the Members' Agreement and Articles of Association. Canada and Sweeden have also became Members in 2012.
Top level (indicative) schedule for the SKA
Technical
2008-12 Telescope system design
2011 Establish SKA Organisation as a legal entity
2012 Site selection
2013-15 Detailed design and pre-construction phase
2016-20 Phase 1 construction
2020 Full science operations with Phase 1
2020-24 Phase 2 construction
2024 Full science operations with Phase 2
Programmatic
Nov 2011 Approve pre-construction funding
Dec 2011 Establish SKA organisation as a legal entity
Early 2012 Site selection
2014 Phase 1 construction funding approved (350 M€)
2017 Phase 2 construction funding approved (1.2 B€)

The project is now entering a transition period. Many functions of the SPDO will be transferred to the new organisation (SKA Project Office, SPO) by March 2012. Meanwhile the SPDO will manage central funding and work allocation for the pre-construction phase of the SKA instrument at the selected site.

By the end of 2012 the organisation will be relocated to the newly built headquarters within the Jodrell Bank radio astronomy complex outside Manchester, UK.

A more detailed (indicative) time chart for the SKA Project (as of November 2011) is shown in the figure below.

The scope of the project to be developed in the Pre-construction Phase, Stage 1, will include all work, at all levels, necessary to develop the SKA project from the end of the preparation phase to the completion of the definition phase. The SKA high-level breakdown structure is shown in the table.

The SKA project will have a strong central Project Office (SPO) with management and system design authority. Once approved, the SPO will allocate the Work Packages covering major subsystems to a small number of successful bidders, who may be Participating Organizations (POs). WP Consortia (formed by institutes and/or industry) will be funded by local sources and will operate under Consortium Agreements. By forming consortia, the capacity required to carry out large WPs can be assembled from several organisations so as to make maximum use of expertise. Close links between different levels will provide close collaboration and involvement between the SPDO/TSO and consortia, as well as inside each consortium.
SKA Work Breadown Structure (WBS)
Facilities
Project Management
Science
SKA System Design and System Level System Eng.
Telescope
Dish Array
Low Frequency Aperture Array
Signal and Data Transport / Sync and Timing
Central Signal Processor
Science Data Processor
Telescope Manager
Sync and Timing
Power
Site and Infrastructure

The currently proposed process for allocation of the Pre-construction phase Work Packages is shown in the figure below. The legal instrument covering the award of the WP will be a form of multilateral agreement, while the bidding consortia will be required to set in place a formal contract between the parties.

The preparation of the WBS/SOW for the Pre-construction Phase Work Packages has started during 2012.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) is scheduled for early 2013.

Credits