Theresa May HITS BACK at EU with UK satellite navigation system after Brussels's THREATS
THERESA May will today launch a UK space programme in a bid to develop its own satellite navigation system, as the country faces being frozen out of key elements of an EU project following Brexit.
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Mrs May has asked the UK Space Agency to lead a taskforce of engineering and aerospace experts to develop options for the UK’s own Global Navigation Satellite System with the capability to guide missiles and power sat navs.
The news comes after Eurocrats indicated the UK could be barred from bidding for contracts on its Galileo programme on security grounds, and the British Army and emergency services could be denied access to encrypted signals.
A Government source said: “The Prime Minister is clear our collective security is too important to haggle over.
“We want full access to Galileo, including the crucial secure elements that will help guide British missiles should they be needed to keep us all safe.
The Prime Minister is clear our collective security is too important to haggle over
“But if we don’t get access, we will find an alternative.”
The EU has insisted the UK cannot be trusted with sensitive data, despite the fact Britain played a major part in the development of the EU’s €10 billion (£9bn) project, which is expected to be fully operational by 2026.
The UK’s calls for continued involvement in the programme have also been rejected, and the project’s security monitoring centre has already been moved from London to Madrid.
The UK Space Agency could now develop its own satellite system which would rival both GPS and Galileo.
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Downing Street sources said there would be a goal of launching the UK’s own system by the mid 2020s, and it would receive the same amount of funding as currently spent on the EU project.
The UK will seek to develop both civilian and encrypted signals, providing a similar range of commercial and secret applications as the US system.
Under current plans, the UK’s Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies would be used to provide the global network of locations required to provide the necessary infrastructure.
This raises questions over where the Galileo project’s infrastructure will be located, as it currently plans on using the same locations.
A recent review estimated a failure of navigation satellite systems and the millions of devices which depend on them could cost the UK economy £1 billion a day.
The dispute has also created fears the UK could sue the EU for the return of the €1.4 billion (£1.2bn) it has currently invested in the programme.
However an EU diplomat allayed fears, stating: “I think in the end the two parties will reach an agreement so that the UK can still participate in it.”