UK To Build GPS System After Brexit Derails Galileo
At the moment, pretty much all satellite navigation products use the American GPS system. While the system has proven more than a little popular, modern innovation in technology has found ways to improve upon it either further. Rather than having accurately within meters, upgrades will be looking to bring that down to centimetres.
One of these systems was the Galileo. An EU funded service that looked to bring huge improvements (and a form of independence) from the US system. In a report via SkyNews though, it seems that the UK Brexit deal will not allow Great Britain access to the service. This, despite the UK having invested what is believed to be around £1.2bn in the development.
Why Can’t The UK Use It?
Under the current Brexit terms, the EU has said that Britain can not have access to the system. Not, at least, without having it as a ‘renter’ rather than owner. We should note that out of the roughly £5.5bn invested in it so far, it’s unclear whether that will entail the UK getting a refund. Personally, though, I’d doubt it. The current negotiations have shown the EU to prefer the one-way street in terms of concessions. In fairness though, the real crux of the matter does appear to revolve more around the military uses. Which, when taken into context, does make the decision a little more understandable.
What Will The UK Do Now?
The UK has said that they are looking now into developing their own system which is even better than the EU model. With blackjack… and hookers…
For the meanwhile though, a continuation of the US GPS system seems likely and, in fairness, with Galileo not set to launch until 2026, there isn’t exactly any huge urgency either and, in addition, it’s not as if GPS isn’t working pretty well at the moment.
What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!
Sadly for the UK, all the available wavelengths for these technologies are allocated to other countries/alliances. This promise to build another system is simply impossible, without making it so incompatible that it’s worthless (as it’s unlikely support will be baked into SoCs for a niche single-country system).
Galileo was our only way to gain a system under our (partial) control.