Media: Trump’s snub throws Macron’s space summit into turmoil

French President Emmanuel Macron’s international space summit is facing questions over its organisation and purpose after major U.S. space companies, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, pulled out at the last minute under pressure from the White House.

The French president’s office sought on Friday to play down the significance of their absence, arguing that the summit would still bring together around 120 international delegations, including Chinese officials, as well as companies, startups and researchers.

Six people with first-hand knowledge of the summit’s organisation told POLITICO that the event had been poorly coordinated and that its expected outcome remained unclear. They spoke anonymously because they were discussing sensitive matters.

“It’s falling behind schedule, it hasn’t really been coordinated with the major players in the European space sector, and it’s not entirely clear what its purpose is,” a senior space expert involved in preparations said.

“And now that the White House has effectively decided to use it against Emmanuel Macron, it’s becoming even more awkward — it shows that, from a diplomatic standpoint, they didn’t do what they should have done,” the expert added.

The summit, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Paris, is intended to address space regulation, competitiveness, security and defense, and exploration. Macron wants France and Europe to retain an independent launch capability and develop their own global satellite communications infrastructure to reduce reliance on U.S. technology.

“If certain countries or actors don't want to participate, in a way, that's their loss,” an Elysée official told reporters.

“There are American companies participating, and there will be announcements. We are not seeing a trend where the U.S. is turning its back on Europe at this space summit,” another Elysée official said. Amazon’s satellite business, Amazon Leo, will be represented by a vice president, the company confirmed to POLITICO.

The summit is expected to produce declarations on scientific data-sharing, satellite radio-frequency allocation and space debris management, although it remains unclear which countries will sign them.

Participants also criticised the event’s logistics, saying invitations were sent only over the summer and, in some cases, as late as Friday. Macron’s adviser overseeing the summit, Claire Vernet-Garnier, left her position a month before the event.

“It has been badly managed; it’s the worst Macron-organised summit I’ve seen,” one space official said.

Still, French officials and industry representatives hope the meeting will strengthen Europe’s position in the global space sector.

“There’s a lot at stake in the days ahead, because the clouds hanging over European space policy are still quite dark and quite numerous,” Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Friday.

The U.S. boycott highlights broader tensions over European space policy, including Washington’s opposition to the EU Space Act and European efforts to secure satellite spectrum for projects such as IRIS².

“The two key issues at stake are indeed access to two limited resources — orbit and spectrum — in a context where SpaceX has a policy of complete dominance over both,” the CEO of a satellite company said. “It’s therefore not surprising that Europe wants to focus on this, and it’s not surprising that the U.S. administration is responding with a boycott.”

By Tamilla Hasanova