Main-sites (SKA) - every dot is a cluster of about 25 antennas.
Green is the core site and the yellow dots is remote sites. 

SKA

The world's radio astronomy community is working together to conceptualise the SKA - the largest and most sensitive radio telescope ever. It is likely to consist of thousands of dishes, each 10 - 15 m in diameter. Special antenna tiles in the core of the array will form a "radio fish eye lens" for all sky monitoring at low frequencies. This will allow many independent observations at the same time. The joint receiving area of all these dishes and panels will add up to approximately one million square metres. The SKA will require super-fast data transport networks and more powerful computing than ever before.

South African and Australia are the only two countries remaining on the shortlist to site this mega telescope. A final decision on the site is expected by 2010 and construction should start in 2014. If built in South Africa, the core of the SKA will be in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape Province. Outer stations will fan out from the core in a spiral pattern, with proposed remote stations in several other African countries and neighbouring islands. The SKA will unravel the mysteries of the origins and age of the universe. It will help us to answer fundamental questions about the laws of nature, including the study of dark energy and dark matter as well as the formation of the first galaxies, stars and planets. If there is life somewhere else in the universe, the SKA will help us find it. If the SKA is built in Southern Africa, it will attract top scientists from around the world, boost local scientific and engineering skills and seed new high-tech industries.

Countries from all continents are collaborating to build and fund the SKA. South Africa and Australia are the only two countries on the final shortlist to site this huge instrument. The SKA will cost about 1,5 billion euro (about R12 billion) to  construct. The money will come from partners around the globe. Many teams are working together to develop the science and technology of the SKA and on studies to trade off costs against technical performance of the instrument.