The United Kingdom Global Navigation Satellite System (UK GNSS) was a

United Kingdom Space Agency The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the United Kingdom's civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the British National Space Centre ...

(UKSA) research programme which, between May 2018 and September 2020, developed outline proposals for a United Kingdom (UK) owned and operated conventional

satellite navigation A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pr ...

system, as a British alternative to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(EU) owned and operated

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

Global Navigation Satellite System. The main reason was to provide a national and independent system, to ensure UK security following its withdrawal from the EU as a result of

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

. It was fully supported by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. In September 2020, the UK GNSS programme concluded; it was relaunched as a new entity, namely the United Kingdom Space Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Programme (UK SBPNTP).

History

With the now universal reliance on the output provided by

satellite navigation system A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotop ...

s by many aspects of everyday life, in both private and commercial sectors, along with critical uses by

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

, and

emergency services Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal wit ...

, continued and reliable access to such navigation systems is vital for the United Kingdom. An earlier study by the

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

warned that sustained disruption to a reliable satellite navigation could cost the British economy £1 billion per day. The United Kingdom Global Navigation Satellite System was first discussed by the UK Government in May 2018, after the European Union told the United Kingdom that it would no longer have full access to, nor be able to use the encrypted secure component (known as the Public Regulated Service, which is only accessible to the military, emergency services, and government agencies) of the

system, the European equivalent of the United States of America owned and operated

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

(GPS), originally known as Navstar GPS. This UK exclusion from Galileo was despite the fact that the United Kingdom had already contributed more than £1.2 billion towards the cost of setting up Galileo, together with providing much of the British development and cutting-edge technology. One suggested name for the new UK system was "Newton", after the English

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and scientist

Sir Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the great ...

. The UK GNSS was run by the

(UKSA).

Medium Earth orbit A medium Earth orbit (MEO) is an geocentric orbit, Earth-centered orbit with an altitude above a low Earth orbit (LEO) and below a high Earth orbit (HEO) – between above sea level.

(MEO)

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

s were planned to be launched from the proposed spaceport in Sutherland, Scotland, using a vertical launch platform in 2025, with the United Kingdom GNSS planned to be fully operational by 2030. In 2019, it was estimated that the cost of the project would be £5 billion. The United Kingdom government said that it wanted its GNSS to be openly compatible with the United States of America's Global Positioning System (GPS), and the

Five Eyes The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries are parties to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in sign ...

intelligence alliance. The USA, and the other Five Eyes nations contributed expertise to assist the planning and construction, and in exchange, these nations would gain access to the United Kingdom's GNSS encrypted area after it is launched. In November 2019, the United Kingdom's Space Trade Association (UKSTA) released a United Kingdom Space Manifesto, in which they state "the UK's post-Brexit participation in a new global satellite navigation system must be secured". In July 2020, the United Kingdom Government and India's

Bharti Enterprises Bharti Enterprises is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Delhi. It was founded in 1976 by Sunil Mittal. Bharti Enterprises owns businesses spanning across manufacturing, telecommunications, agribusiness, real estate, hos ...

were successful in a joint bid to purchase the bankrupt

OneWeb OneWeb (legally Network Access Associates Ltd) is a communications company that aims to build broadband satellite Internet services. The company is headquartered in London, and has offices in Virginia, US and a satellite manufacturing facility ...

satellite communications company, with the UK paying £400 million (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

500 million) for a 45% stake. As a result of further investment in OneWeb from companies including

SoftBank Group is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...

Hughes Network Systems Hughes Network Systems, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar. It is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland and provides satellite internet service. HughesNet has over 1.3 million subscribers in the Americas. History Hughes Communication ...

, and

Hanwha Group , former_name = Korea Explosives Group , type = Public , traded_as = , industry = Conglomorate , founded = , founder = Kim Chong-hee , hq_location_city = Seoul , hq_location_country = South Korea , area_served = Global , key_people = ...

, the UK Government's stake has been reduced to less than 20%. The UK government was considering whether the OneWeb

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...

(LEO) satellite constellation could in future provide a form of GNSS service in addition to its primary purpose of fast satellite broadband. If successful, an ongoing merger between OneWeb and French satellite operator

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellit ...

, which is partly state-owned through

Bpifrance ''Banque publique d'investissement'' (literally ''renchPublic Investment Bank'', also known as Bpifrance, BPI Groupe S.A.) is a French public investment bank. It is a joint venture of two public entities: the Caisse des dépôts et consignations ...

, will result in both UK and French government representation on the board of the resulting company. Analysts are speculating that this could mean greater collaboration between the UK and EU with regards to satellite technology. On 24 September 2020, the UK Government announced that the UK GNSS programme would be replaced with a new project; the Space Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Programme; which will explore innovative ways to provide satellite navigation services to the UK, building on findings from the concluded UK GNSS programme. The UK Government had allocated £90 million to developing the proposals.

History

See also

References

Further reading