AUSTRALIA'S chances of hosting the world's largest radio telescope have been dealt a crippling blow after a scientific panel recommended the $2.5 billion project be awarded to a rival consortium led by South Africa.

The Square Kilometre Array is to be aimed at the deep reaches of the universe and is expected to generate immense amounts of data, enough to fill 15 million large iPods every day, costing about $25 billion to maintain over 50 years.

A group of 20 countries will share the financial burden and the results of what is dubbed ''the experiment of the century''.

The array, which detects radio waves instead of light, will allow scientists to explore the black holes and dark matter that make up most of the universe, and could even be used in the search for alien intelligence.

But Australia, in a joint bid with New Zealand, has failed to convince an expert panel it offers a superior location for the project with less radio interference for the thousands of separate dishes and antennas that will comprise the array.