Brexit: Expert discusses future of Galileo space project
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Galileo is the EU’s global navigation satellite system that offers services in global positioning down on Earth for cars, railways, aviation and other sectors. With the UK aiming to become a “science superpower” as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised, an important part of reaching that goal involves boosting the space sector.
Shadow Science Minister Chi Onwurah believes Britain’s space sector took a blow when it left the EU’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).
Ms Onwurah told Express.co.uk: “The UK made a mistake by not being part of Galileo because we were a big part of it.
“We had businesses and researchers who had a real stake in making Galileo work.
“I don’t want to look back too much, but looking forward we need a plan, and I don’t see that.
“The space sector is a really important industry. There are big jobs, growth, satellite communications, spaceports- the opportunities are there but we just see confusion.”
The UK has been trying to come up with alternatives to boost the space sector.
Britain’s OneWeb satellite network, while not a global positioning programme like Galileo, has been tipped to one day rival the EU’s project.
OneWeb is a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites which is partly owned by the Government.
It is a broadband constellation first and foremost, and will provide rural 4G, and one day 5G, Internet signals across the nation.
It is expected to deliver global coverage by June 2022 through a constellation of 648 LEO satellites.
But Ms Onwurah did not seem to think that this makes up for leaving the Galileo project.
She told Express.co.uk: “We had all this confusion about ‘we’re going to set up our own Galileo and then we’re not going to do it and then we bought OneWeb instead’.
“OneWeb is more about delivering broadband in hard-to-reach areas. It requires a major technological change to support global positioning, so it is not a replacement for Galileo.
“I’m not entirely sure the British space sector knows what it is for.”
But there may be other options on the table, too.
DON’T MISS
turgeon slammed for launching oil pipeline months after COP26 [INSIGHT]
Putin strikes! Russia cuts gas supply after Biden’s troops make ‘de…[REVEAL]
Captain Cook mystery blown open as 250-year-old ship breakthrough [REPORT]
Britain’s first Defence Space Strategy (DSS) was published on Tuesday, with £1.4billion earmarked for the next 10 years.
According to a statement, £968 million of the billion-pound investment will be committed to delivering a multi-satellite system.
Dubbed the ISTARI Programme, the system is planned to support greater global surveillance and intelligence for military operations.
Another £61 million is earmarked to explore “cutting-edge” laser communications technology to deliver data from space to Earth at a speed equivalent to superfast broadband.
The new investment is on top of the existing £5billion already upgrading the UK’s Skynet satellite communications capability.
The statement continues to state that an additional £127million invested over the next four years will develop a network of satellites designed to integrate space with land, air, sea and cyber.
The new programme, “MINERVA”, will “present the UK’s ability to autonomously collect, process and disseminate data from the UK and allied space assets to support frontline military decision-making”.
Source: Read Full Article
