May to order experts to plan UK satnav system

Theresa May will instruct engineering and aerospace experts to come up with plans for the UK’S own satellite navigation system, as a row with the European Union intensified.

The plans set out today by Downing Street suggest that Britain could develop and launch its own version of the bloc’s Galileo project by the mid-2020s.

It comes in response to the EU indicating that it would not allow the UK to participate fully in Galileo post-brexit.

It is thought the British version of the system would cost approximately the same each year as the UK’S current contribution to the EU’S programme.