NewsAurecon engineering helps deliver SKA-Low Central Processing Facility

Officially opened on 24 June 2026 by His Excellency the Hon. Christopher Dawson AC APM, Governor of Western Australia, alongside Wajarri Yamaji Elders Jennylyn Hamlett and Des Mongoo, the facility – its name meaning "home of the head" in Wajarri language – will house the on-site equipment that will process and manage enormous volumes of data generated by the SKA-Low telescope.

Aurecon provided multidisciplinary engineering design for the highly specialised facility, combining advanced data processing capability, radio frequency shielding and modular construction to support the world's largest radio telescope.

Aurecon worked with CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and the SKAO to develop the engineering reference design for Ngurra-Maga, together with SKA-Low infrastructure contractor Ventia. The building requires a highly specialised environment to house and shield the mission-critical computing, networking and signal processing infrastructure that will receive data from the telescope array before it is transferred for high-performance processing in Perth.

SKA-Low's Central Processing Facility enables mission-critical computing within one of the world's most sensitive and remote radio astronomy environments.

Located at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory on Wajarri Yamaji Country, SKA-Low is one of two telescopes being built by the international Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), a global science project involving 16 countries. Together with its counterpart SKA-Mid in South Africa, SKA-Low will enable scientists to explore some of astronomy’s most profound questions, including how the first stars and galaxies formed, and how the Universe evolved.

Designing the facility required Aurecon to solve one of the project's most complex engineering challenges: enabling mission-critical computing within one of the world's most sensitive and remote radio astronomy environments.

SKA-Low operates within a protected radio quiet zone, where even the smallest levels of electromagnetic interference from building services and computing equipment could compromise scientific observations. To overcome this challenge Aurecon designed a fully welded, double-shielded building enclosure to contain electromagnetic emissions generated by the equipment within the facility.

"Ngurra-Maga will eventually house the ‘brain’ of the SKA-Low telescope on site, bringing together the computing capability that will enable scientists to explore some of astronomy's most profound questions," says Hayley Wardrop, Aurecon's Industry Director, Health, Education & Research.

"Designing a facility that could support world-leading computing capability while protecting the integrity of the faint astronomy signals received by the antennas required innovative thinking and close collaboration between engineers, scientists and project partners. Balancing these requirements in such a unique operating environment made for a truly rewarding engineering challenge," adds Shan Abeywickrema, Aurecon's Project Director and WA Buildings Lead.

The site’s remote location also required an innovative construction approach. Aurecon’s design included a series of prefabricated modules, manufactured by Ventia off site and assembled on location, improving quality control while reducing risk, minimising the workforce required on site and supporting the reliable delivery of this critical infrastructure.

The design was developed using Building Information Modelling (BIM), enabling project partners to ‘walk through’, test layouts in real time, coordinate building systems and refine details before construction began.

Aurecon's multidisciplinary team provided building design review and acceptance across structural, mechanical, fire safety, fire protection, electrical, hydraulics and environmentally sustainable design disciplines, alongside project management and superintendent services.

Enabling discovery

The opening of Ngurra-Maga, the SKA-Low central processing facility represents a significant construction milestone for the SKA-Low telescope. SKA-Low will ultimately comprise more than 131,000 antennas spread across 74 kilometres of Wajarri Country.

Next, the SKAO will install highly specialised electronics and computing equipment within Ngurra-Maga. It is here that once operational, data collected from the telescope’s antennas will be processed before being transferred to supercomputers in Perth and eventually shared with researchers around the world.

The project reflects close collaboration between the SKAO, CSIRO, Aurecon, Ventia, specialist suppliers and the Wajarri Yamaji People, Traditional Owners and Native Title Holders of the site, balancing scientific requirements, construction practicality and long-term operational performance.

As SKA-Low continues to expand, Ngurra-Maga will play a critical role in enabling discoveries that deepen our understanding of the origins of the Universe and demonstrate the role engineers play in supporting world-leading scientific research.