French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting dozens of leaders, technology experts and scientists in Paris for a two-day global space summit that opens on Wednesday, as major US companies including SpaceX and Blue Origin stay away.


Around 2,000 participants from 120 countries are expected at the International Space Summit at the Grand Palais, with Russia, Iran and North Korea among the notable absentees.


Germany is co-hosting the event with France, although Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed last Friday that he would not attend because of scheduling conflicts.


The summit aims to produce joint declarations laying the groundwork for future negotiations on issues including space traffic and the sharing of scientific data from space.


Contracts are also expected to be signed, while space ministers will discuss Europe's position in a sector dominated by the United States and China.


US companies absent

Some of the biggest names in the US space industry will not attend.

France's Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space confirmed last Thursday that SpaceX and Blue Origin, along with startups Stoke Space and Starcloud, would not be among the attendees, citing political pressure.

"It's hard not to link it to the rumours of pressure," a ministry spokesperson told French news agency AFP.


A White House official told companies during a private call that attending the two-day summit "could look like tacit support for EU policy positions", US news website Politico reported, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the call.

The companies on the call included billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX, Stoke Space, K2 Space and Astra.

The official also said France had not coordinated with the US on the summit, accused the country of "anti-competitive practices" and suggested its panels were not designed to include the American perspective and could diminish US industry efforts, the sources told Politico.

Two of the sources were connected to space companies and the third was in politics, Politico said.

The White House did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.