Madrid to take Galileo satellite centre from UK post-Brexit

The British capital was chosen to host the centre for the continent's advanced GPS sat-nav system nearly eight years ago and the headquarters was expected to be in full operation by late 2018.

It regulates access to the Galileo system and watches over it 24 hours a day when the primary security hub in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, goes offline, responding to security threats and guaranteeing protection of sensitive data as well as acting as an interface with international governments to facilitate encrypting.

All of this will be done from Madrid instead of London from April 1, 2019.

For the moment, only one person is employed full-time at the Galileo centre in London, but it was expected to require 10 permanent staff members once it was completely up and running, possibly rising to between 20 and 30, which is the number forecast for the Madrid hub when it moves across the Channel.

At present, Galileo – created to give more precise results than existing sat-nav systems – has 18 satellites in space and is expected to be fully functional by the year 2020.

Its creation was to prevent the EU's being forced to depend upon a sat-nav system under control of the United States' Armed Forces, and to enable the bloc to have its own under local control.

Fears that a disruption in peace or even an outbreak of armed conflict could lead to the USA blocking its most accurate sat-nav information from the rest of the world also fuelled the EU's decision to set up Galileo – especially as the US military-controlled navigation system allows for incorrect data to be inserted on purpose to throw enemies off the scent in the event of a war, even though at present, this 'selective availability' function is switched off.

The committee of member States, representing the 27 countries minus the UK on this occasion, voted almost unanimously to move the Galileo satellite centre to Madrid, according to the European Commission.

Although the decision will not be confirmed until Wednesday next week, it is already 99% certain.

The move was necessary to ensure the centre remained within the European Union, since it would have been located in a third country after Brexit.

Britain's space industry is said to be suffering from the Conservative government's decision to forge ahead with Brexit.

According to the Royal Aeronautical Society and British aerospace corporations, the fact they would not be based in the EU in just over a year has meant the sector has missed out on lucrative deals, including Galileo contracts.

This is the third European agency confirmed to leave the UK as a result of Brexit – the European Banking Authority (EBA) is due to move to Amsterdam in early 2019 and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will transfer to Paris.

Both agencies' staff will go with them, unless they decide they do not wish to relocate.

Photograph by the European Space Agency (ESA)