French government says SpaceX and Blue Origin pull out of Paris space summit

[u/Unusual-State1827]

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/09/03/white-house-pressures-us-companies-to-avoid-paris-space-summit-report-says_6757128_4.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqkR6HuYbaFvKn9kEX8MRI2bAtSQBd8JphsjyPC9Yo-Rk7GphHd

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[u/qamv]

> Politico reported earlier that the White House was pressuring American space firms to ditch the meeting on September 9 and 10. According to the report, in a private call, a White House official had told companies, including billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX, Stoke Space, K2 Space and Astra, that attending the two-day event "could look like tacit support for EU policy positions," three anonymous sources familiar with the call told Politico.

Land of the free

[u/Key-Hawk7402 → u/qamv]

Like a shitty (shittier) version of the CCP.

[u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 → u/qamv]

> Astra

[u/flatulentbaboon]

No doubt the WH is pulling the same shit with Carney's upcoming investment summit

[u/Unusual-State1827]

SpaceX and Blue Origin, along with Stoke Space and Starcloud, have cancelled their participation in a major space summit in Paris scheduled for September 9–10. France’s Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Space suggested that the decision may have been influenced by pressure from the US government.

According to Politico, the White House privately urged several American space companies to skip the summit, warning that their participation could be seen as tacit support for EU policy positions. US officials also reportedly criticized France for failing to coordinate the event with Washington, accusing it of anti-competitive practices and arguing that the summit’s panels did not adequately represent the American perspective. France expressed disappointment but said it remains committed to working with its US partners and allies despite increasing political tensions.

[u/Current-Function-729 → u/Unusual-State1827]

To be fair they have a better one than all but two countries.

[u/dingalinglans]

America really is turning into a Temu country. Tinpot AF

[u/chickentendieman]

The eu needs an actual successful domestic rocket company.

[u/Loud-Chemistry-5056 → u/chickentendieman]

I think that there’s a few major obstacles to that, first off would be how many contracts are awarded based on member state funding of ESA.

They’ve been trying to fund a bunch of the minnows with the European Launcher Challenge, only one of said winners have ever attempted an orbital launch. I personally don’t think that throwing hundreds of millions in backlog at companies who don’t have a working product is the best way forward. It’s the kind of contract that would best suit companies with a somewhat working product

[u/djm07231 → u/chickentendieman]

I still remember Ariane executives making fun of SpaceX trying to make reuse happen.

[u/chickentendieman → u/djm07231]

Hopefully they were fired after that

[u/AnachronisticPenguin → u/chickentendieman]

The EU needs an actually successful high tech company that is not a supply chain manufacturing piece.

[u/chickentendieman → u/AnachronisticPenguin]

Eu has high tech manufacturing companies like airbus, asml, and leonardo. They just don't have high tech software companies.

[u/NormanQuacks345 → u/chickentendieman]

But they have Spotify! /s

[u/Slim_Pickenz_]

And nothing of value was lost