Transforming signals from space into cutting-edge technology for the world’s largest radio telescope
Qamcom
Qamcom, based in Gothenburg, is a deep-tech house, with signal processing at the core that turns research, concepts and ideas into industrialised real-world solutions. In 2023, Qamcom was awarded the first Swedish industrial contract by SKAO – the Square Kilometre Array Observatory.
“It is prestige order, not only for Qamcom but also for Sweden as a whole.”
"This was a prestige order, not only for Qamcom but also for Sweden as a whole." says Harri Hellgren, senior system engineer at Qamcom. The contract acknowledges Swedish technology as an integral part of this massive international project.
Subsystem to transform signals from space
SKAO is building the two largest radio telescopes in the world, located in Australia and South Africa. Qamcom’s contract concerns the SKA-Mid telescope in South Africa. The mission is to design and produce a complete subsystem that will transform analogue signals from space into amplified and clean digital signals.
The project draws upon the full capabilities of the company, from systems engineering and electronics development to project and production management, as well as verification, installation, and integration.
Qamcom delivers cutting-edge temporal synchronisation for SKA-Mid
Building on its established partnership with SKAO, Qamcom was selected to design and deliver a state-of-the-art temporal synchronisation system for the first phase of the SKA-Mid array. The team engineered, validated, and fully integrated a high-precision module capable of synchronising dishes to within a few picoseconds across tens of kilometres.
The solution integrates seamlessly with the existing receiver architecture and leverages the already-deployed White Rabbit network, ensuring minimal infrastructure overhead while maximising performance. From contract award to a field-ready unit, Qamcom delivered the complete system in under one year – on time and ready for site installation and testing.
Outcome
- When fully operational, the SKA-Mid telescope will deliver unprecedented capabilities:
- Four times the resolution, enabling researchers to study the Universe in finer detail.
- Five times the sensitivity, capturing faint signals previously beyond detection.
- Sixty times the speed, accelerating data acquisition and analysis.
Collaboration with Onsala, Chalmers and Big Science Sweden
Qamcom’s involvement in the SKAO project began through a collaboration with Onsala Space Observatory and Chalmers University of Technology, which lead Swedish interests in the construction of the SKAO telescopes. Big Science Sweden was also engaged throughout the journey, supporting the collaboration along the way.
Last edited 2026