Britain is seeking an alliance with its “Five Eyes” security partners to help launch its own satellite positioning system after being frozen out of the EU’s Galileo project due to Brexit.

Space Agency officials have held discussions with representatives from the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the nations that make up the security pact, The Telegraph understands.

It could see Britain’s allies provide technology or financial support to the estimated £5 billion project in exchange for access to the system’s most accurate military-grade signal.

The Government has given up on accessing Galileo’s secure “PRS” signal, which was seen as a critical technology by the armed forces, after British companies were blocked from further contracts after triggering Article 50.

Officials believe the industrial expertise gained from existing work on the project, which the Government had spent more than £1bn on before being frozen out, means it is well placed to build its own system.

Last year Theresa May provided the Space Agency with £92 million to assess whether Britain could build and operate its own global navigation satellite system.

It is expected to have both a public signal, used to improve smartphone and car sat-nav accuracy, and an encrypted service for military use and critical infrastructure such as energy networks.