The UK is poised to invest £ 500 million (nearly 550 million euros) in OneWeb, the report said Financial Times. With the money, the British government would control more than 20 percent of the company that wants to send satellites to space.
Of Financial Times reported a week earlier about the British government’s interest in OneWeb, which filed for bankruptcy in March. The company wanted to use its satellites to offer broadband internet, but was unable to raise enough money in a new round of investment.
Now the British government reportedly wants to deploy the satellites for its own navigation service. Europe is currently working on Galileo, an alternative to the US GPS system. However, access to this system has been uncertain for the UK since Brexit.
According to the Financial Times the UK prefers to invest in OneWeb rather than setting up its own GPS alternative, which would cost between £ 4 and £ 5 billion.
The business newspaper also writes that US defense personnel played a decisive role in the choice to invest in OneWeb. The Pentagon wouldn’t want the UK to copy GPS, but OneWeb’s satellites would complement the US system, according to newspaper sources.
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