Global Navigation Satellite Systems

(asked on 6th July 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what advantages the Government envisages the OneWeb low earth orbiting satellite system will have for navigation over continued use of the Galileo system.


Answered by
Amanda Solloway Portrait
Amanda Solloway
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This question was answered on 9th July 2020

The UK will not seek to access Galileo as we will not be able to assure its services for use in defence and critical national infrastructure.

The current OneWeb satellites are used to deliver satellite communications services, and we are actively considering what other capabilities OneWeb could provide.

Dedicated work is ongoing across Government to determine the UK’s positioning, navigation, and timing requirements, and to assess options for meeting them.

OneWeb holds a position since 2012 in the UK and U.S. of developing cutting-edge satellite technology from its bases both here in the UK and in the United States. It holds a global leadership position in Low Earth Orbit technology.

The move of acquiring Oneweb signals the government’s ambition for the UK to be a pioneer in the research, development, manufacturing, and exploitation of novel satellite technologies through the ownership of a fleet of Low Earth orbit satellites.

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