AVIATION and "safety-of-life" services are exempt from draft regulations proposing a ban of certain radio frequencies in the Karoo to protect the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), according to the project’s management.If aviation services were included in the restrictions, aircraft flying the Johannesburg-Cape Town route could be redirected via Port Elizabeth, the Atlantic Ocean or over Upington. The ban would also have a negative effect on mandatory search, rescue and alerting services in the area.SA’s aviation authorities including the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS), are opposed to the possible ban.The SKA project, in SA and Australia, operates over a wide range of frequencies and will be able to detect radio waves from objects billions of light years away. About 131,500ha surrounding the telescope’s 176-dish core, which lies 90km from Carnarvon, needs to be free from radio frequency interference.The frequencies ban will have im...
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