The UK is investing millions to make its own satellite system
After Brexit, Britain could be cut off from the EU’s space technologies.
The news: According to the Telegraph, the UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May has ordered work to begin on a satellite network that would match the European Union’s Galileo project. Reportedly, 100 million pounds is being allocated to “map out” plans for the UK’s new system. An official government announcement is expected in the coming week.
Some background: Galileo, which works more precisely than previous services GPS services, became available for public use in 2016 and will be completed in 2020. The European Commission has said the UK’s use of and involvement in Galileo could be a threat to security.
Why it matters: Replicating a huge project like this takes an unbelievable amount of time and money, and is essentially a duplication of decades’ worth of work. Reuters reports that building a complete new system could cost 3 billion pounds.
Keep Reading
Most Popular

Toronto wants to kill the smart city forever
The city wants to get right what Sidewalk Labs got so wrong.

Chinese gamers are using a Steam wallpaper app to get porn past the censors
Wallpaper Engine has become a haven for ingenious Chinese users who use it to smuggle adult content as desktop wallpaper. But how long can it last?

Yann LeCun has a bold new vision for the future of AI
One of the godfathers of deep learning pulls together old ideas to sketch out a fresh path for AI, but raises as many questions as he answers.

The US military wants to understand the most important software on Earth
Open-source code runs on every computer on the planet—and keeps America’s critical infrastructure going. DARPA is worried about how well it can be trusted
Stay connected

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.