( CNN ) -- It 's been billed as an astronomical equivalent of the Large Hadron Collider , offering new insights into the formation of the universe and so powerful that it might even detect alien life . The Square Kilometer Array ( SKA ) is an international effort to build the world 's largest radio telescope , one which will probe the dark heart of space shedding new light on dark matter , black holes , stars and galaxies . `` It will have a deep impact on the way we perceive our place in the universe and how we understand its history and its future , '' says Michiel van Haarlem , interim director general of the SKA project . `` We know we are going to discover things that we have n't already . It 's going to be very exciting , '' van Haarlem said . Taking its name from the total size of its collecting area , the SKA telescope will consist of 3,000 dish antennas , each one around 15 meters wide . Construction is slated to begin in 2016 . Collectively the surface area of all the dishes will amount to one square kilometer -- hence the name -- all combining to detect radio waves that penetrate the Earth 's atmosphere , emitted by stars , galaxies and quasars . Two other types of radio receptors -- aperture antennas and array antennas -- will combine with the dishes to provide continuous frequency coverage from 70 MHz to 10 GHz . `` It 's not like an optical telescope where you see an image of the sky directly . What you do is measure signals from the antennas and process them , '' van Haarlem says . Around half the antennas will sit in a `` central core region '' made up of three separate five-kilometer clusters . The remainder will extend out in five carefully aligned `` spiral arms '' stretching out ever more sparsely over an area in excess of 3,000 kilometers ( 1,864 miles ) or more . The configuration , say scientists , will create the most sensitive radio telescope ever built . Currently , that honor is held by the Very Large Array ( VLA ) in New Mexico , says Alastair Edge , from Durham University -- a leading UK center for astronomical research . `` ( VLA has ) just undergone a very large refit . Telescopes themselves have n't changed but the computing at the back end has changed dramatically , '' Edge said . See also : Mapping out a new era in brain research . At the moment , we simply do n't have the computing power for the SKA telescope to perform at full tilt , Edge says . Van Haarlem concurs . `` We 're talking about huge computing hardware that still needs to be developed . There 's a big challenge there , '' he said . Supercomputers capable of performing billions and billions of operations per second will be required , but the results will be spectacular , van Haarlem says . `` We will have high-resolution images where we will actually peer into the center of what is going on in galaxies , '' van Haarlem said . `` We will also have the big picture where we can make surveys of vast areas of the sky to map out the large-scale structure of the universe . '' The project is entering a crucial stage with an announcement on where the array will be based expected imminently . Two locations , one in South Africa 's Northern Cape , the other in western Australia , are in the running . Brian Boyle , project director of the Australia/New Zealand bid , extols the virtues of Western Australia 's `` intrinsic radio quietness '' and the `` excellent geophysics '' of the proposed Australian site . Meanwhile , SKA South Africa project director Bernie Fanaroff says hosting the `` world 's largest science project '' would be extremely important to the country and the continent . `` It could carry immense importance for the perception of Africa -- by Africans and by the rest of the world , '' Fanaroff said . `` It has already attracted a lot of young people into science and mathematics in South Africa and from other African countries and it 's attracted a lot of top-rate scientists , '' he added . Recent reports suggest that South Africa is favorite to host the SKA , but van Haarlem would n't be drawn on the matter . Wherever the location , the effort to build and operate the SKA will be an international one , with 20 countries and 70 institutions already on board , as well as private backers . And whatever the outcome of the bids , it will be a while before the array is up and running with construction slated to start four years from now and full operation not expected until 2024 . The total cost is estimated at â‚¬1.5 billion ( around $ 2 billion ) . But it will be money well spent van Haarlem thinks . `` If it only tells us when the first stars and galaxies formed then it would have already contributed a huge amount to our understanding . '' Alastair Edge agrees . `` It is possibly the most complex experiment we could possibly do . It has huge potential for allowing us to determine the distance to every galaxy in our local universe , '' Edge said . `` The Large Hadron Collider produces a certain amount of data per hour . This will produce the same amount of data in the space of a couple of minutes . ''
The world 's largest radio telescope will uncover secrets of the history and future of the universe . Extraterrestrial life may also be detected by Square Kilometer Array telescope . 3,000 dishes will be used in an array which will spread over massive area . South Africa and Australia bidding to host the project which will start construction in 2016 .