The largest and most sensitive gamma-ray telescope in the world is at present being built 100 km west of Windhoek in the Khomas Highland of Namibia, an area well-known for its excellent optical quality. Construction on the foundations started in August 2000, and the high energy stereoscopic system telescope (HESS) should be fully operational in 2002.
from News@NRF

Professor Christo Raubenheimer of the Potchefstroom University is the driving force behind the building of the telescope in southern Africa. The HESS project is the result of international cooperation between 12 institutes, including the Unit for Space Physics at Potchefstroom. The Unit was allocated an annual amount of R240 000 per year for 10 years from the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, administered by the NRF, for the project. The University of Namibia is the only other African institution involved in HESS, while the other collaborators are from Germany, France, Italy, Armenia, Ireland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.

Two unique features of the proposed installation are the possibility of simultaneously observing air showers with the aid of three to four telescopes under widely different viewing angles; and the combination of multiple (up to 16) telescopes in a large system to increase the effective detection area for gamma rays. The first four telescopes (phase I of the HESS project) are expected to go into operation in 2001 and 2002. HESS will supplement the facilities of the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) that is being constructed in the Northern Cape. Local astronomers and those from abroad should benefit from the excellent facilities available in southern Africa once these telescopes have been completed.