France announces the withdrawal of four American space companies from the Space Summit in Paris amid pressure from the White House

Four American space companies, including SpaceX and its competitor Blue Origin, have canceled their participation in an international space summit to be held in Paris next week, according to what the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space announced Thursday.

The ministry added that Stock Space and Star Cloud also withdrew from the summit.

A ministry spokesman told Agence France-Presse: “It is difficult not to link the matter to rumors of pressure.”

Politico had previously reported that the White House was putting pressure on American space companies not to attend the summit scheduled for September 9 and 10.

The spokesman added: “It is clear that we want to continue working with our American partners and allies, although strategic shifts and political pressures sometimes make the mission unnecessarily complicated.”

Politico quoted three informed sources as saying that a White House official informed in private calls companies, including SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, Stock Space, K2 Space, and Astra, that attending the two-day event “may appear to be implicit support for the European Union’s policy positions.”

The official also informed representatives of the space sector in the United States that “France did not coordinate with the United States regarding the summit,” accusing Paris of “anti-competitive practices,” and indicating that the summit seminars were not designed to include the American point of view, and may detract from the efforts of the American industry, according to the sources quoted by “Politico.”

The Politico website explained that two of the sources are linked to space companies, while the third source works in the political field.