The wierd thing is that the UK could launch a LEO GPS system within just a couple of years, based on the rapid advance in cubesat technology and U.K. expertise, along with the massive surge in cheap launch capability. The LEO GPS technology is there - and SpaceX alone intends to launch up to 20,000 cubesats by the middle 2020s. Galileo is becoming operational just as the era of large MEO orbit GPS satellites is becoming obsolete.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starli...constellation)
Innovation: Navigation from LEO : GPS World
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/u...ileo-8l27sl8fc
UK will launch satellite system to rival EU’s Galileo
Theresa May is to order the development of a
British satellite navigation system after losing patience with Brussels over threats to freeze the UK out of the EU’s new Galileo programme after Brexit.
The European Commission wants to limit
Britain’s access to Galileo, intended to rival the US-controlled Global Positioning System, even though the UK has been a major backer of its development since 2003. Brussels insists the
UK cannot be trusted with sensitive data that provides a secure back-up for the new satellite system even though much of it has been developed in this country. A recent review suggested a failure of satellite systems and the millions of devices such as sat-navs that depend on them could cost the UK economy as much as £1 billion a day.
The dispute has even led to suggestions that the UK could sue for the return of the €1.4 billion so far invested in the €10 billion project. Downing Street stepped up the pressure yesterday, saying that Mrs May had reached the conclusion that the government should start work on a British system.
The UK Space Agency would lead a group to develop options for the new satellite system which would be a commercial rival to both Galileo and GPS, a No 10 source said. It would receive the same level of funding currently being spent on the UK contribution to the EU programme. It would use Britain’s overseas territories and crown dependencies to provide the necessary global terrestrial infrastructure — raising questions about where Galileo equipment, currently slated for the same locations, would be sited.
“The PM is clear our collective security is too important to haggle over,” the Downing Street source said. “We want full access to Galileo, including the crucial secure elements that will help guide British missiles should they be needed to keep us all safe. But if we don’t get access, we will find an alternative.”