Europe Plans Multi-Billion Euro Investment to Break Space Dependence on US; US Firms Absent from Paris Summit

French President Macron and European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher called at the Paris space summit for Europe to increase its space investment and reduce technological dependence on the United States. According to AFP, Aschbacher raised the question of "passenger or driver" at Wednesday's meeting, calling for approximately 10 billion euros (about $11.6 billion) to be invested over the next decade to build Europe's independent space capabilities.

Macron wrote on social media platform X: "Europe is taking control of its own destiny, including in space." He stressed the need to "build a strong Europe that remains independent even in space" through innovation and investment.

However, the two-day summit, which brought together officials, astronauts, and industry leaders from around 120 countries, was overshadowed from the start by the collective absence of major American commercial players. The French government revealed that both SpaceX and Blue Origin had canceled their plans to attend. According to Politico, the White House had discouraged American space companies from attending, lest the trip "be seen as supporting EU policies."

But a deeper issue lies in the growing politicization of American commercial space service providers in conflicts. According to France 24, after the outbreak of the Iran war this year, US satellite imaging companies Planet Labs and Vantor reportedly began refusing to provide imagery of Middle East conflict zones, ostensibly to prevent adversaries from using it to attack the US and its allies.

Europe's own response plan is to build a "sovereign satellite" constellation called Iris2, designed to compete with Starlink and provide secure communications for citizens of 27 countries. But according to France 24, this system is not expected to be fully operational until 2030. Until then, Europe must continue to rely on private American suppliers.

This vulnerability was already exposed in 2022. According to related reports cited by France 24, Musk that year refused to allow Starlink to be used to support strikes against Russian naval bases. The report noted that after the full-scale outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, European concerns about dependence on a single private supplier rose rapidly.

At the hardware level, the United States remains firmly in the global lead in space: NASA leads the Artemis program, seeking to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon; SpaceX's reusable rockets have reshaped the commercial launch industry; Amazon launched its first internet satellites in 2025, with plans to deploy more than 3,200 satellites to provide global broadband service.

Aschbacher warned: "In this emerging landscape, Europe must rely on its own capabilities to become an indispensable partner." He pointed out that without investing in its own capabilities, Europe would have to continue buying astronaut transport services from foreign suppliers, "spending about 5 billion euros over the next decade, with most of the money flowing to foreign industries, and flight authorizations remaining outside European control."

The alternative is to invest in capabilities kept on European soil, "creating European jobs, strengthening European autonomy, and gaining stronger leverage in international negotiations." French astronaut Thomas Pesquet told AFP: "We are technically leading. We have universities, laboratories, companies, space agencies — we need to take our destiny into our own hands."

An anonymous French presidential official told France 24: "There can indeed be tensions and technological competition between major powers, especially the United States and China. We have our own strengths, but you can see things are accelerating, and more funding is needed." European Space Agency member states are expected to make a decision on Aschbacher's autonomy initiative at a ministerial meeting in December.