Brexit satellite row hots up as Theresa May orders rival to EU's Galileo system
2 min read
Theresa May has ordered plans for a British rival to the Galileo satellite project, as the European Commission continues to play hardball over the multi-billion pound scheme.
Britain has contributed some £1.2bn of funding to the £8bn EU-wide satellite network, which aims to be up and running by 2020 and offer a rival to the American-led GPS system that powers smartphones and a string of military systems.
But the European Commission has said continued UK involvement in the project after Brexit would represent a security risk, and moved to block British manufacturers from involvement in the scheme.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the Prime Minister has now told officials to start work on a rival network, with £100m of Treasury funding set to be spent on "mapping out how a sovereign satellite system would work".
"We still want to be part of the Galileo project but we have got to prepare for all eventualities," a Whitehall source told the paper.
The £100m is set to come from a £3bn pot outlined by chancellor Philip Hammond at last year's Budget in a bid to help the UK prepare for Brexit, and an official announcement is expected this week.
The chief executive of the UK Space Agency, Graham Turnock, told the Sunday Telegraph that Britain would "like to continue to participate" in Galileo after Brexit and said he was "disappointed by the approach that the Commission has taken" so far.
The space bigwig added: "We would still like a good outcome on Galileo but the signs I’m afraid are not terribly positive given the position that the commission has taken to date."
The European Commission has previously said it is "the right time to start thinking about adjusting co-operation" on the major satellite scheme ahead of the UK's demotion to "third country" status after it leaves the EU.
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