LFAA Deployment Study

The study was to provide an executable Deployment Plan for the construction of the Low Frequency Aperture Array (LFAA), which is the collecting element of the SKA1_LOW.(Square Kilometre Array) radio telescope to be located in Mid-West Western Australia 

The Study was undertaken for the AADC Consortium (an international consortium representing ten universities with Curtin University as the lead) to: 

1. Inform the SKA project team of the costs, practicalities and risks associated with the deployment of the LFAA. 
2. Provide a basis for budgeting for the SKA1 construction based upon the AIV Roll-Out Plan for SKA1_Low and SKA1-Low Configuration. 
3. Provide a cost basis upon which to allow decision makers to value competing factors of configuration and rollout in formulating procurement and construction strategies. 
4. Assist in the procurement planning in preparation for SKA1 construction phase activities. 

GCo Australia undertook the Study in order to: 

• Assist the AADC in achieving their objectives and provide the benefit of GCo’s local construction and maintenance experience on large scale remote sites.
• Understand the AADC’s requirements and how they may change as the SKA project matures. 
• An understanding of how discrete changes may affect the LFAA deployment plan will enable better Project decisions to be made as the project nears the Execution Stage.