The $1.7 billion international SKA project, if located in the Cue-Meekatharra region, will impact most noticeably between 2012 and 2020.
The $400 million worth of infrastructure will include construction of roads, remote power units, radio dish station foundations, security fencing and the laying of thousands of kilometres of fibre-optic cabling.
The Murchison region will become the base for up to 220 permanent maintenance workers and a large number of scientists and technicians.
Local companies involved in the mining service and construction ind-ustries will reap the initial benefits.
Perth’s handful of small but internationally competitive and inventive electronics companies will be well-placed to contribute to the project’s technological phase, beginning in 2008.
Five international technology consortiums are now compiling bids for the project to provide both the SKA’s software and hardware.
And students and academics within the physics, engineering, computer sciences and mathematics departments of Perth’s tertiary campuses will be able to participate as researchers and operators.