MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope under construction in the Northern Cape of South Africa. It will be the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the southern hemisphere until the Square Kilometre Array is completed approximately in 2024. The telescope will be used for research into cosmic magnetism, galactic evolution, the large-scale structure of the cosmos, dark matter and the nature of transient radio sources. It will also serve as a technology demonstrator for South Africa's bid to host the Square Kilometer Array. As of July 2016, only sixteen 13.5-meter diameter (44.3 feet) dish antennae have been completed and are functioning, and the remainder are planned to be in service by 2017.