Key figures from Europe\u2019s space industry and other international players have converged on Paris to discuss how to advance the continent\u2019s ambitions in a global market dominated by the United States.<\/p>\n
The two-day International Space Summit that started Wednesday gathers officials, astronauts, researchers and industry leaders from about 120 countries to discuss the future of the space industry and pursue potential business deals.<\/p>\n
\u201cEurope is taking its destiny into its own hands, including in space,\u201d French President Emmanuel Macron said in a message posted on X. He called for innovation and investment \u201cto build a powerful Europe, independent even in space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what to know about Europe\u2019s efforts to compete in the global space race.<\/p>\n
Europe seeks to build up sovereign space capabilities<\/p>\n
Macron\u2019s space summit underlines his push to\u00a0reduce Europe\u2019s reliance<\/a>\u00a0on the U.S. for vital tech services, which extends to space launches as well as satellites for communications and reconnaissance.<\/p>\n European nations have sought to build up their sovereign space capabilities since 2022 and Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which highlighted how\u00a0Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink<\/a>\u00a0satellite communications service has become both a critical partner for Kyiv and a potential vulnerability.<\/p>\n Immediately after the war erupted, there were\u00a0initial doubts<\/a>\u00a0about whether the billionaire would continue to fund Starlink services in Ukraine.\u00a0Reports said<\/a>\u00a0Musk refused to let Starlink to be used to support an attack on a Russian naval base in 2022.<\/p>\n The European Union is working on a \u201csovereign satellite\u201d constellation called Iris2 that is designed to rival Starlink by providing secure communications and connectivity to the 27-nation bloc\u2019s citizens. However, it\u2019s not expected to be fully operational until 2030.<\/p>\n Another inflection point came this year after the Iran war broke out and U.S. satellite imaging companies Planet Labs and Vantor started withholding images of the conflict region in the Middle East, apparently to prevent adversaries from attacking the U.S. and allies.<\/p>\n The Middle East conflict has fueled demand from countries for their own satellite imaging capabilities, said Emiliano Kargieman, CEO of Satellogic, which signed a deal earlier this year to supply Portugal with two high-resolution imaging satellites.<\/p>\n \u201cFor Europe there\u2019s a lot at stake,\u201d the director general of the European Space Agency (ESA), Josef Aschbacher said. \u201cSatellites are really being utilized day in, day out. It\u2019s what we call a critical infrastructure, therefore extremely important for every citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n The United States is far ahead in the race<\/p>\n The United States remains the global leader in the space sector, with NASA conducting\u00a0major exploration missions<\/a>\u00a0and overseeing\u00a0the Artemis program<\/a>, which aims to establish a human presence on the moon.<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s rocket company, SpaceX<\/a>, has transformed the commercial launch industry by making reusable rockets operational, lowering costs and increasing the frequency of launches.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Amazon\u00a0launched its first internet satellites<\/a>\u00a0in 2025. The company plans to deploy more than 3,200 satellites to provide broadband service around the world. Amazon\u2019s founder Jeff Bezos also established the rocket company\u00a0Blue Origin<\/a>.<\/p>\n SpaceX and Blue Origin canceled plans to attend the Paris summit, the French government said. News<\/a> outlet Politico reported that the White House had urged U.S. space companies not to attend because it could appear to support European Union policies.<\/p>\n \u201cThere can be tensions, as well as technological competition between major powers, particularly the United States and China,\u201d a French presidential official said, speaking anonymously in keeping with the presidency\u2019s customary practices. \u201cWe do have strengths, but we can see that things are accelerating and that much more money is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n Ariane is the flagship of Europe\u2019s rocket industry<\/p>\n The Ariane program allows Europe to launch satellites through missions including the Galileo navigation system, the Copernicus Earth-observation program and military and scientific satellites.<\/p>\n Ariane also operates commercial missions. Since the beginning of the year, the most powerful version of the rocket,\u00a0Ariane 64<\/a>, successfully put in orbit 100 Amazon Leo satellites in three launches as part of a contract for a total of 18 launches.<\/p>\n But Ariane, which relies on multiple European nations, requires complex logistics. The core stage of the rocket is assembled in France, while its upper stage is built in Germany with the support of hundreds of subcontractors across Europe.<\/p>\n Rocket components are transported by cargo ship across the Atlantic to Europe\u2019s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, well-located for missions to geostationary orbit.<\/p>\n The rocket is also expendable, making it more expensive to operate than reusable competitors. There are only a handful of launches a year \u2014 in contrast to more than a hundred flights annually for SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rockets.<\/p>\n The continent needs more launch capabilities<\/p>\n European leaders are trying to build up domestic space launch capability so that the continent is less dependent on SpaceX rockets.<\/p>\n