SpaceX and Blue Origin skip Macron's Paris Space Summit after White House pressure

Four American space companies — SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, and Starcloud — have withdrawn from President Emmanuel Macron’s Paris International Space Summit after pressure from the White House, French officials confirmed this week. The companies notified French authorities of their withdrawal on Thursday, according to Politico, just days before the summit is set to open on September 9.

The boycott is the clearest sign yet that Washington and Europe are on a collision course over who controls the resources that matter most in the new space economy: orbital slots and radio spectrum. About 120 international delegations have been invited to the summit, including Chinese officials, making the absence of America’s dominant launch and satellite companies conspicuous.

Washington's real target: the EU Space Act

According to Politico, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy told U.S. space companies that attending the summit could be read as tacit support for European policy positions Washington opposes. The centerpiece is the proposed EU Space Act, introduced by the European Commission in June 2025 and still moving through Parliament and Council. The act would require any satellite operator serving EU users — regardless of where the company is based — to obtain prior authorization, appoint an EU legal representative, and comply with debris-mitigation and cybersecurity rules.

The second flashpoint is spectrum. France and Germany are pushing to reallocate more satellite radio frequencies to European operators, including the EU’s own sovereign satellite network, IRIS2, which directly competes with SpaceX’s Starlink for orbital bandwidth. White House officials reportedly also accused France of “anti-competitive practices” and complained of insufficient coordination with the U.S. government over the summit’s agenda.

A summit already struggling before the boycott

The withdrawal compounds problems that predate it. Six people with direct knowledge of the planning told Politico the summit is behind schedule and unclear in purpose, with one calling it the worst Macron-organized event they had seen. Invitations were still going out days before the opening, and the adviser who had been running the summit for Macron left her post a month before it was due to happen.

French officials have downplayed the boycott publicly. “If certain countries or actors don’t want to participate, in a way, that’s their loss,” one told reporters. The French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space confirmed the withdrawals but said it was difficult not to connect them to the reported U.S. pressure.

The boycott targets a summit, not a market

One detail undercuts the drama: the same four companies are expected back in Paris just a week later for World Space Business Week, a commercially focused event where Starlink and Blue Origin remain on the exhibitor list. The distinction matters — these firms are avoiding a specific diplomatic forum where the EU Space Act and spectrum allocation could be formally discussed, not the French market itself, where they continue to do business as usual.

For the space industry, the standoff signals that the fight over satellite spectrum and regulatory sovereignty — not rocket launches — is becoming the defining commercial battle between the U.S. and Europe in orbit. The summit's declarations on data sharing, frequency allocation, and space debris were expected to be signed at the close of the event; it remains unclear who, if anyone, will sign them now, as reported by Politico.