France will press ahead with an International Space Summit in Paris on Sept 9-10 despite a string of high-profile absences.
Organisers had billed the event as a forum for decision-makers from 120 nations and expect around 2,000 delegates, with declarations and commercial contracts on the agenda rather than binding decisions.
White House concerns about a perceived pro‑European tilt prompted four U.S. space firms, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, to pull out, scrapping some planned announcements.
Germany, the summit co‑chair, signalled lower political engagement when Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would not attend and Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will also skip the event Merz Meloni.
Paris is using the meeting to push for greater European autonomy in space, a theme sharpened by competing plans such as the EU’s IRIS² secure constellation and Germany’s separate secure‑network project IRIS².
European Space Agency officials note Europe spends about five times less on space than the United States and are preparing proposals to reduce reliance on U.S. rockets for human launches.
The summit is expected to draw senior officials including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is scheduled to give a keynote, and China is also due to attend China.
