New Zealand researchers have been chosen to work on key projects for the world's largest radio telescope.
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be a unique instrument enabling astronomers to monitor the sky in unprecedented detail.
It will link hundreds of thousands of radio telescopes to be set up across Africa and Australia, an international effort involving 18 countries and about 100 organisations.
The SKA is in its design stage, and NZ Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says research groups from Auckland University of Technology and Wellington's Victoria University will lead the work on central signal and science data processing.
"The quantity of information this instrument will gather will be massive, it requires major leaps in information and communications technology to manage, store and interpret data," he said on Tuesday.
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"This is an unprecedented opportunity for New Zealand to showcase our expertise in ICT and software development."
The government is putting $NZ1.7 million ($A1.54 million) into the SKA and New Zealand institutions are matching that.
The SKA will be built between 2018 and the mid-2020s.
