Macron fury as UK’s Galileo replacement storms ahead of EU: ‘Not acceptable’

The EU’s Galileo programme is an £8bn satellite constellation providing global positioning and is considered an important strength of the EU’s space sector. Mr Macron said at the conference: “We need constellations. They are at the heart of what a lot of industry is doing and what our research is doing.” But Britain, which is still a part of the ESA, was kicked out of Galileo after Brexit, despite contributing £1billion to the £8.5billion costs.

While many companies left Britain so they could remain part of the project, they may now be kicking themselves.

That’s because Mr Macron praised progress the UK system tipped to replace Galileo has made.

The French President said: “Europe has to be in the constellation business, could you imagine outsourcing it to other powers? This is not acceptable.

“We already have these constellations – Globalstar, Telenet, OneWeb – these all have the know-how.

“Other countries have massively invested in these. We cannot sit back, we must catch up and it’s urgent that we do so.”

The Government bought a share in OneWeb in July 2020.

It is a global satellite communications company that has a network of satellites and may one day rival Galileo.

The constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites beam signals in 3G, 5G, LTE and Wi-Fi for high-speed internet access to all corners of the globe.

While not carrying out the same functions as Galileo, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has tipped the system could one day be adapted to rival the EU’s project.

Speaking before the Science and Technology last week, Mr Kwarteng said: “In terms of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT), which Galileo is all about, that is something that we could do ourselves.

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“We must not see it as a fatality. We will catch up, we are going to catch up thanks to what we are starting now.

“People outside of Europe are taking a lead and we can react to that.”

And the bloc does appear to be making an attempt to catch up.

Thierry Breton, the EU’s Commissioner for the internal market, announced a plan for a new satellite network for the bloc.

It would add to two existing systems, Galileo and Copernicus.

The UK was also meant to take part in Copernicus in December 2020, but its access was blocked over political Brexit disputes with the bloc.

Now the bloc has hinted a third constellation, this time involving a £5billion plan to for a broadband network like that of OneWeb.

Mr Breton said: “Our new connectivity infrastructure will deliver high-speed internet access, serve as a back-up to our current internet infrastructure, increase our resilience and cyber security, and provide connectivity to the whole of Europe and Africa.

“It will be a truly pan-European project allowing our many start-ups and Europe as a whole to be at the forefront of technological innovation.”