PARIS, France: The Macron Paris space summit has lost four US companies after SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space and Starcloud withdrew following White House pressure, according to Politico.
Organisers scheduled the summit for September 9 and 10 and invited about 120 international delegations, including Chinese officials.
Politico reported that the event also faces organisational problems. Six people familiar with preparations described planning as behind schedule, poorly coordinated with major European space companies and unclear in purpose.
Organisers were still issuing some invitations on Friday, even though negotiators had already begun talks over the summit’s final declarations.
A French presidential official downplayed the withdrawals, saying that companies and countries that chose not to participate would miss an opportunity.
However, the pullout does not appear to signal a wider retreat from the French market. Starlink and Blue Origin remain listed for World Space Business Week in Paris shortly afterwards. The dispute comes as Washington lobbies against the proposed EU Space Act.
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The legislation would require operators serving European Union users to obtain prior authorisation, appoint an EU legal representative, and comply with cybersecurity and space-debris rules.
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A separate Franco-German effort seeks to allocate more satellite spectrum to European operators, including the IRIS2 network, potentially increasing competition with SpaceX’s Starlink service.
The Paris summit is expected to produce declarations covering data sharing, frequency allocation and space debris, although the source said it remained unclear which participants would sign them.
