ngVLA Antenna Prototyping and Early Science

The next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) is a potential future large-scale radio astronomy project, envisioned to be an interferometer for wavelengths from 2.5 to 250mm. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is developing plans for the design, construction, and operations of the ngVLA 18-m antenna as the building block of next generation centimeter (cm) and millimeter (mm) radio astronomy.

The prototype antenna will provide cost information and insight into modern designs and materials for precise cm-mm antennae. This award supports the design, construction, commissioning and performance testing of the ngVLA prototype antenna in New Mexico.

NRAO will leverage a large body of documentation already created for the management of ngVLA, as well as provide appropriate oversight. To allow the ngVLA to deliver an order of magnitude improvement in both sensitivity and angular resolution requires developing the next-generation antenna through this award. The creation and detailed testing of this antenna also helps to transfer technical advancements in other industries into radio astronomy facilities and research infrastructure.

Because ngVLA needs 244 antennae, the antenna and its electronics must be optimized for manufacturability, volume production, and low maintenance, in order to minimize the total lifecycle cost. This low-cost, high-performance cm/mm antenna platform enables more than future radio telescopes, including potentially significant improvements in spacecraft downlink capabilities and southern-hemisphere extensions of celestial and terrestrial reference frame measurements.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.