Brexit impacts satellites and space programmes from 2021

With the UK having left Europe, the Government has updated its information on the EU space programmes in which the UK participates. The new advice relates to the European satellite navigation programmes (Galileo and European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service EGNOS), the Copernicus Earth observation space programme, and the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (EUSST) programme.

The advice notes that the UK’s membership of the European Space Agency is not affected by leaving the EU as the ESA is not an EU organisation. Even so, there are fears that Britain is at risk of becoming a ‘third tier’ space nation, with plans for a sovereign GNSS (to replace the access to Galileo) delayed by at least six months, the space sector deal seemingly on the back burner, and satellite operators fearing that they will fall behind the likes of the US, Russia and Europe.

With that in mind, what is the Government’s advice for companies involved in those key European projects? Here is how the UK’s space programmes will affected from 2021.