SpaceX, Blue Origin ditch Macron’s space summit after White House pressure

PARIS — Four U.S. space companies said they would skip French President Emmanuel Macron’s space summit in Paris next week after coming under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, rocket maker Stoke Space and Starcloud, a startup that is trying to launch data centers in space, notified French authorities on Thursday that they were “canceling their participation” in the event, according to an official from the French space ministry.“Four American companies canceled their participation in the space summit today: Stoke Space, Starcloud, Blue Origin, and SpaceX,” a ministry official told POLITICO.POLITICO first reported earlier this week that the White House put pressure on U.S. companies to boycott the summit.“It is hard not to draw a connection to the rumors of pressure that have been circulating in the press. We obviously want to continue working with our American partners and allies, even if strategic shifts and political pressures sometimes make the task unnecessarily complex!” the French official said in a text message, adding that other U.S. companies will participate.The summit, taking place on Sept. 9-10, is a key event for Macron. He is keen to ensure that France and Europe remain credible space powers, with an independent launch capability and their own global satellite communications system — avoiding being dependent on U.S. technology. The summit is expected to bring together delegations from the countries alongside space agencies, industry leaders, scientists and military officials. But the event comes at a time of strained relations between Europe and the U.S., including over space policy. Washington has lobbied against the European Commission’s EU Space Act, a proposed rulebook for space activities the U.S. sees as targeting American companies by imposing EU rules on them. A Franco-German push to allocate more mobile-satellite frequencies to European companies, including the EU’s IRIS² satellite network, is also angering the U.S. Brussels, Paris and Berlin do not want Europe’s satellite connectivity to depend entirely on Starlink or other U.S. providers. For Washington, however, it looks like another example of the EU using regulation and market access to build European champions at the expense of American companies. French authorities first tried to downplay the Trump administration’s summit threat, arguing U.S. companies were still welcome. Despite that effort, six French and space industry officials told POLITICO they were not surprised by what they describe as a classic Trump move. The U.S. administration has repeatedly tried to torpedo multilateral initiatives, ranging from global climate measures to quitting the World Health Organization, while also trying to block any European effort to reduce reliance on U.S. companies.“This is so typical of Trump,” said a space company official who will be participating in the summit. Like others in this story, they were granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Trump likes to belittle Europeans … and even more Macron, who somehow embodies European ‘leadership.’”Lackluster attendance by U.S. companies is a short-term blow to the summit and Macron. But several space and French officials stressed it will also energize European efforts to reduce reliance on the U.S. “The silver lining is we’re diversifying our partnerships around the world, investing in our own space industry. It’s not about uncoupling but looking at what we can do with other partners,” said a space official.Two space industry officials also told POLITICO that Trump’s boycott will have a limited impact. Even if the four companies skip next week’s summit, the World Space Business Week taking place a week later in Paris is set, for now, to include major American space companies like Starlink and Blue Origin. French officials also argue that any hole left by American businesses will be filled by others.“Is it really that big a deal if [Ame