“If certain countries or actors don’t want to participate, in a way, that’s their loss,” an Elysée official told reporters on Friday.
“There are American companies participating, and there will be announcements. We are not seeing a trend where the U.S. is turning its back on Europe at this space summit,” said another Elysée official. Amazon’s satellite business Amazon Leo, for example, will be represented by one of its vice presidents, a spokesperson for the company confirmed to POLITICO.
‘Badly managed’
The summit’s outcome is expected include declarations on sharing of scientific space data, allocation of radio satellite frequencies — a controversial matter — and space debris management. However, it’s still unclear at this stage who will sign them.
Participants who spoke to POLITICO said there is little clarity about which countries will attend, at what level, the schedule and what to expect.
“The structure of this summit — as is often the case with international summits — is rather unconventional, and I’m not sure the Elysée has any real goals other than to showcase France,” said a senior official working on the frequency declaration, who previously participated in the organization of last year’s Paris AI summit.
“It will allow France to show that it is a player in the space sector, even though the resources and strategy aren’t keeping pace. And it will allow for some low-level geopolitics, without addressing the real issues surrounding European funding and capabilities,” the official added.