https://www.ft.com/content/bb6bae54-...1-e01af256df68
Britain looks to Australia for help on Galileo rival
The UK is aiming to launch the first tenders for a satellite navigation system to rival Europe’s €10bn
Galileo project by the end of the year, with hopes rising that Australia could become a partner in the programme.
Britain is expected to signal its determination to press ahead with its own programme in discussions with EU negotiators next week, should Brussels continue to insist that the UK be
barred from secure elements of Galileo.
Two Whitehall officials told the Financial Times that Australia, which last week announced plans for a National Space Agency, had indicated potential interest in a UK project. However, this was at a very early stage and there had not yet been any formal contact on the subject, several officials said. The Australian government had no immediate comment on whether it would participate in a UK system.
The moves come as Britain prepares to put funding behind its threat to withdraw from Galileo, even though its preferred option is to remain in the programme. “For industry to carry out any work on a UK system they will need contracts,” said one official. Industry and Whitehall officials said the government was hoping to launch invitations to tender for initial engineering and design work in the next few months, barring unforeseen delays.
Although proposals for a UK system were only announced last month, the government has secretly been weighing plans for an alternative to Galileo since 2016. Two feasibility studies were commissioned from industry, the most recent last autumn, looking at what the UK’s needs would be and whether British companies had the capabilities required. The latest study estimated that a UK system could be delivered for about £3.7bn and would create some 5,000 jobs.
This month, the government created a task force charged with developing options for a system with both civilian and military grade signals. “That would not have been done if the results of the study were not positive. There is potential to create growth,” said the official. “This idea [for a UK system] has not suddenly appeared out of nowhere.”.........