Speaker
Description
The SKA Observatory (SKAO) is a scientific infrastructure currently under construction, comprising two radio interferometers with unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution. In 2025, SKAO reached its first construction milestone with the delivery of the first array assembly (AA0.5) of the SKA-Low telescope. Science verification is expected to begin in mid-2027.
The volume of data produced by the Observatory will reach the exascale, posing major challenges for data processing, storage, and scientific analysis. The SKAO community has been preparing for this challenge for the past ten years through the design and implementation of a distributed network of SKA Regional Centres (SRCs). The SRC Network (SRCNet) will provide the scientific community with access to SKAO data, as well as the computing and storage resources required for their scientific exploitation.
The SRCNet is being designed to provide seamless access to the computing resources available across the SRCs, following the “moving code to the data” paradigm. This will allow scientific analysis tasks to be executed at any SRC, regardless of where they are submitted by the user. The network entered its first operational phase, SRCNet0.1, at the beginning of 2025 and is now preparing to support the upcoming science verification activities.
In 2023, Spain became a Member of the SKA Observatory. The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) coordinates the Spanish scientific and technological activities related to the SKAO project. In 2019, the institute initiated the development of a Spanish SKA Regional Centre, the espSRC, with the aim of supporting preparatory activities for the SKA Key Science Projects and the scientific exploitation of SKA precursor and pathfinder facilities, while promoting best practices in Open Science.
The espSRC is also one of the international initiatives contributing to the development of the SRCNet. It was the first node to complete the deployment and integration of the services required to operate as an SRCNet0.1 node, and continues to be one of the most stable nodes currently contributing to the network.
In this talk, we will present the current status of the SRCNet development and summarise the activities undertaken to develop the espSRC and its contribution to the SRCNet. We will also describe the next steps towards the evolution of the espSRC and its integration into the future SRCNet infrastructure.