The EU’s global positioning system (GPS) system, Galileo – which the UK helped to design and implement, was part of a 15-year collaborative project between the EU and the European Space Agency (ESA).

It started going live at the end of 2016 as an effort to end the region’s reliance on existing GPS services owned by the US, China, and Russia.

While the UK is staying part of the ESA after Brexit, it could still lose its access to the navigation system as it is currently only available to countries inside the EU.

ESA members Norway and Switzerland both had to negotiate third-party access to Galileo.

Following Brexit, the UK will also need to hold separate negotiations to re-obtain partnership to Galileo and other ESA-led space projects – including the Copernicus environmental damage monitoring system, and Horizon 2020, which aims to boost scientific research.

Scottish National Party (SNP) MP George Kerevan said some of the technology is reserved for member states to use for public services, and the UK could be locked out.

“I’m sure that a deal will be done, and the UK could pay its whack and get access, but it’s just another part of Brexit that no one’s actually thought about,” he said.

Many UK businesses which have collaborated on Galileo and hold contracts worth tens of millions of pounds to provide hardware to the project would be particularly hard hit. The head of the ESA’s EU policy office said that if Brexit goes ahead all those contracts will have to be pulled.