Britain to launch it's own sat-nav system to rival EU's Galileo
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43891933
Britain to launch it's own sat-nav system to rival EU's Galileo
£5bn project would detatch Britain from EU Galileo system and create an independent GPS satellite
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBC News
The UK is considering plans to launch a satellite-navigation system as a rival to the EU's Galileo project.
The move comes after the UK was told it would be shut out of key elements of the programme after Brexit.
The UK has spent 1.4bn euros (£1.2bn) on Galileo, which is meant to be Europe's answer to the US GPS system.
Business Secretary Greg Clark is taking legal advice on whether the UK can reclaim the cash, according to the Financial Times.
He told BBC News: "The UK's preference is to remain in Galileo as part of a strong security partnership with Europe.
"If Galileo no longer meets our security requirements and UK industry cannot compete on a fair basis, it is logical to look at alternatives."
The row centres around whether the UK can continue to be trusted with the EU's most sensitive security information after Brexit.
The UK's armed forces were planning to use Galileo to supplement their use of the US GPS system, but press reports suggest they will now be blocked from doing so. The US retains the more accurate and robust GPS signals for its own armed forces.
Graham Turnock, chief executive of the UK Space Agency, said early feasibility work was under way into a UK system, which he said would cost a "lot less" than Galileo, thanks to work already done and "British know-how and ingenuity".
Asked by the BBC's Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos if it could be as much as £5bn, he said "tops".
Officials are also looking into whether the UK could refuse the EU access to ground stations in two British overseas territories - the Falkland Islands and the Ascension Islands.
Good stuff! Canada, Australia and New Zealand should be invited should they wish to wean away from the US system.
Fact is, if it wasn't for those two ridiculous wars on the continent because our neighbours find it so hard to live in peace together, then it would probably have been the Union flag flying on the Moon before the Stars and Stripes.
Never too late.