Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for a UK satellite program after the UK leaves the EU in the event that the UK does not remain part of the Galileo satellite programme.

On 2 May, the Government announced that it is developing options for a British Global Navigation Satellite System. The work is led by the UK Space Agency, and a task force of Government specialists and industry will work quickly to develop options that will provide both civilian and encrypted signals and be compatible with the GPS system. Such work will draw on UK expertise in developing satellite technology and the UK’s critical contribution to the EU Galileo programme to develop plans for an innovative system that could deliver on the UK’s security needs and provide other services.

The Government has been clear there is a mutual benefit to the UK remaining involved in Galileo and is working hard to deliver this. However, without the assurance that UK industry can collaborate on an equal basis and without continued access to the necessary security-related information, the UK could be obliged to end its participation in the project.