Where does Brexit leave us with regards to the Galileo project?

We’ve had help answering this question from our friends at the Institute for Government and UK in a Changing Europe.

Galileo is the EU’s Global Satellite Navigation System, and provides “accurate positioning and timing information”. It is an alternative to the USA-owned GPS navigation system.

The EU has said its rules mean the UK will be excluded from the more militarily sensitive parts of Galileo and the UK government has said that it will not continue to seek access to these for military purposes after Brexit. It said this is because of the EU’s reluctance to allow a non-member country to be involved in the development of the project’s secure elements. As a result, the UK is looking into building its own satellite navigations system.

The EU’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said that “Galileo's civil and commercial signal will obviously still be accessible to the United Kingdom and its businesses.”

This article is part of our Ask Full Fact series on Brexit, answering your questions about Brexit and the latest negotiations between the UK and the EU.

You can see all the questions we’ve answered so far here. If you want to ask us your own question, do that here.