The concern is that Brussels might freeze the UK out of the European Galileo programme because of Brexit.

Chancellor Philip Hammond has signed off funding worth £100 million to kick-start a project to rival the continental system which Britain had a key role in creating. Galileo has been the source of spats between the EU and the UK long before Brexit. Disagreements were had over the level of access the UK will have to the Public Regulated Service (PRS) - a navigation and timing signal intended for use by government agencies, armed forces and emergency services.

Now the UK insists that for its involvement in the system to be worth continuing, it must be able to have detailed technical information about the PRS signal so it can rely on it for military purposes. However the EU  only wants members of the bloc to have that level of access.

The UK's future status as a 'third country' after Brexit means that its firms may not be able to participate in creating some of the more sensitive elements of the project.

Defence procurement minister Guto Bebb told MPs in June that Britain had the capacity to create a rival to Galileo at a cost of £3 billion to £5 billion. Of course it would mean starving Manchester, but at least they will know the exact location of the gutter they were trying to sleep in.

Graham Turnock, the chief executive of the UK Space Agency, told The Telegraph: 'We would like to continue to participate and we would still like a good outcome on Galileo but the signs I'm afraid are not terribly positive given the position and approach that the Commission has taken."

Whitehall's official line is that the UK still wants to be part of the Galileo project but has to prepare for all eventualities.