23 November 2022
The UK government has failed to provide secure access to Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) satellite services since it decided to leave the European Union’s Galileo system, according to a report from a House of Commons committee.
The UK now relies on the US Global Positioning System (GPS) for PNT services which are “essential for day-to-day life” said the report. “Satellites support a range of public services such as navigation, weather forecasting and, telecommunications.
“It is estimated that over £360 billion (about 17%) of the UK’s non-financial business GDP per year is dependent on satellites and that the negative financial impact of the UK losing access to global navigation systems could be as high as £5.2 billion for a five day disruption.”
On leaving Galileo, the immediate impact to the UK was losing access to European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and thus Localiser Performance with Vertical Guidance (LPV) which GPS-based instrument approaches rely on.
The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee is also wary of the government’s alternative plan of using the OneWeb low earth orbit satellite system, the report, UK space strategy and UK satellite infrastructure, reveals.
The UK Government acquired OneWeb in July 2020, shortly after OneWeb had declared bankruptcy, alongside the Indian telecommunications company, Bharti Global, with each partner contributing $500 million.
“The Government’s purchase of OneWeb was carried out under exceptional circumstances and it is still unclear what benefits the investment will bring to the UK public,” says the report. “Given the unusual investment, the Government should avoid making similar purchases.”
OneWeb has said that its Gen2 satellites would offer full PNT services by 2026.
The Science and Technology Committee reports concludes with, “We are concerned that the Government seems to be progressing towards plans to use OneWeb’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation to provide PNT services in the future, despite suggestions from experts that there are many technical issues surrounding using LEO satellites for PNT signals.
“Ambiguity also remains about the development schedule for full PNT services from OneWeb and whether such services could be provided in a way that is appropriate for sovereign military and critical national infrastructure purposes.”
House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report
