White House pressures US space firms to skip Paris space summit, sources say

The Trump administration pressured U.S. space companies not to participate in a major global space summit in Paris, according to sources familiar with the situation. The summit was organized by President Emmanuel Macron and aimed to foster dialogue among participants, including heads of state and decision makers from around 120 countries.

Companies like SpaceX led by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin were among those that canceled their attendance, as were Stoke Space and Starcloud. The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) held a call with several U.S. space companies planning to attend, suggesting their participation might imply support for European policy positions with which the U.S. disagreed.

While the OSTP officials did not explicitly direct companies not to attend, they made strong suggestions, according to the sources. The summit featured speeches from Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as European nations were increasing investments in civil and military space capabilities. Some announcements between European and U.S. companies planned for the summit were also canceled.