The Trump administration pressured US space companies not to attend a high-profile global space summit in Paris organized by President Emmanuel Macron, triggering a last-minute reshuffle and the cancellation of some announcements on Thursday, people familiar with the matter have said.
Elon Musk's SpaceX SPCX.Oand Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin were among the firms that canceled their attendance on Thursday, France's Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space said, along with Stoke Space and Starcloud.
France wants the informal "International Space Summit" to open dialogue between participants including heads of state and other decision makers and industrial or scientific groups from some 120 countries, specifically including economic rivals.
The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) hosted a call a week ago with several US space companies planning to attend the September 9-10 event and said their attendance could suggest support for European policy positions with which the US disagrees, four of the sources said.
SUMMIT INTENDED TO BRING TOGETHER GLOBAL INTERESTS
The summit will feature speeches from Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as European countries ramp up investments in civil and military space capabilities and reduce reliance on US firms for satellite communications and rocket launches.
The White House officials on the call, first reported by Politico, made strong suggestions but did not explicitly direct companies not to attend, the sources said.
A French ministry spokeswoman said it was difficult not to link the cancellations to reports of pressure from the US administration, but said some US firms were still attending.
Some announcements between European and US companies planned for release at the summit have also been cancelled, according to one of the sources.
An OSTP official said: "The Trump Administration continues to collaborate with allies and partners in space. We look forward to productive conversations at the Space Summit on key priorities including science missions, exploration programs, and space security."
European space officials said the aim of the summit was to discuss declarations of intent, but that the meeting was not designed to take policy or budget decisions. Macron's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chief organizer Philippe Adam, the former head of France's Space Command, said in remarks published on Thursday that leading economic players from the US and China had been invited and widespread participation was important.
"We are familiar with the perspectives of our allies and usual partners but less so our competitors," he told the French magazine Air&Cosmos.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette, additional reporting by Karen Freifeld, Michel Rose, Tim Hepher and Dominique Patton; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Mark Porter and Kevin Liffey)
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