May gives green light for satnav programme after Galileo snub

Theresa May has reportedly given the go-ahead for Britain to start work on a British-made satellite navigation system, having been frozen out of the European Galileo programme because of Brexit.

Chancellor Philip Hammond has signed off funding worth £100 million to kickstart a project that would rival the continental system that Britain has played a key role in creating, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Galileo was the source of a major row between Britain, the European Space Agency and European Commission over the level of access the UK will have to the Public Regulated Service (PRS) – a navigation and timing signal intended for use by government agencies, armed forces and emergency services.

The UK insists that for its involvement in the system to be worth continuing, it must be able to have detailed technical information about the PRS signal in order to rely on it for military purposes, something the EU is only prepared to grant to members of the bloc.

The UK’S future status as a “third country” after Brexit means that its firms may not be able to participate in creating some of the more sensitive elements of the project.

Defence procurement minister Guto Bebb told MPS in June that Britain had the capacity to create a rival to Galileo at a cost of £3 billion to £5bn.

Graham Turnock, the chief executive of the UK Space Agency, told The Sunday Telegraph: “We would like to continue to participate and we would still like a good outcome on Galileo, but the signs I’m afraid are not terribly positive given the position and approach that the commission has taken.”