Antenna Mass Production for SKA-LOW

For the first time ever, a radio telescope requires the production of more than 100,000 identical antenna systems. This unprecedented situation is encountered in the low-frequency radio telescope of the Square Kilometer Array. The reference antenna is a dual-polarized log-periodic dipole antenna operating between 50 and 350 MHz supplemented by two low-noise amplifiers. The manufacturing of almost half of the target number of antennas has been assigned to an Italian industry, Sirio Antenne, based on a proposed production scheme matching the challenges given by delivery time, cost, reliability, and high-quality performance.