White House pressures US space firms to skip Paris space summit, sources say
ARKX•SpaceX will no longer attend, sources said
The White House officials on the call, which was first reported by Politico, steered clear of explicitly directing companies not to attend but made strong suggestions against attending, the sources said.
Some announcements planned for release at the summit between European and U.S. companies have since been cancelled, according to one of the sources. SpaceX will no longer attend, one of the sources said.
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."
France says summit is for dialogue, not decisions
France has said the "International Space Summit" will open a dialogue between participants including heads of state and other decision makers and industrial or scientific groups from some 120 countries. The aim is to discuss various declarations of intent, but the informal political summit is not designed to take policy or budget decisions, European space officials said.
Macron's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
White House urged companies to stay away from Paris summit
The Trump administration pressured U.S. space companies not to attend a high-profile space summit in Paris organized by French President Emmanuel Macron, triggering a last-minute reshuffle and the cancellation of some announcements, according to people familiar with the matter on Thursday.
The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy hosted a call a week ago with several U.S. space companies planning to attend the September 9 to 10 event and said their attendance could suggest support for European policy positions with which the U.S. disagrees, four of the sources said.
