Paris, Sep 9 (EFE).- The International Space Summit began Wednesday in Paris, channeling 5 billion euros in contracts and investments, primarily for the European aerospace sector, seeking to close the gap with powers such as the United States and China.
Promoted by French President Emmanuel Macron, the two-day event also made headlines on its opening day due to notable absences, mainly co-chair German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was not among the 15 heads of state and government attending the summit.
Two major players in the space sector, Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos) and SpaceX (Elon Musk), were also absent.
However, Macron announced the event led to the signing of contracts and investments for 51 projects worth 5 billion euros, which primarily benefit French companies but also other European consortia such as Airbus and Spain’s Hispasat.
Macron highlighted the agreement with the Amazon Leo satellite network, which entrusts six additional Ariane 64 launches to the French space transportation company Arianespace, thereby bringing the total number of launches planned under the agreement to 24, up from the previous 18, to be carried out between now and 2031 from the Guiana Space Center.
The French president participated in a roundtable discussion with several international astronauts, including France’s Thomas Pesquet and Spain’s Sara García Alonso.
In addition, during the Summit, two launches on Ariane 64 rockets were agreed for 2027 and 2028 to renew the OneWeb LEO constellation and pave the way for the European IRIS² network.
Among the new projects is one by Eutelsat (France), which will order up to 229 additional OneWeb satellites from Airbus Defence and Space, enabling the constellation to be progressively renewed and expanded through 2034.
Eutelsat will also deploy up to 96 thermal sensors from OroraTech on OneWeb satellites for fire detection.
The SpaceRise consortium, comprising satellite operators Eutelsat, SES (Luxembourg), and Hispasat (Spain), announced the signing of industrial contracts following the first milestone of the European secure satellite connectivity constellation IRIS² with the European Commission.
Additionally, the Spanish company Integrasys, which specializes in critical communications and positioning software, will partner with the French company Aldoria on EO BLINDING, a 6-million-euro project supported by the European Defense Fund (EDF).
More women in space
During a roundtable discussion, the European Commissioner for Defense and Space, Andrius Kubilius of Lithuania, warned of the risk of “fragmentation” in how European Union countries approach space and called for closer cooperation.
“In the next decade, European launch demand will increase 6 times for EU systems alone. We need ambition in access to and from space from Europe, by Europeans and for Europeans,” added Kubilius, who participated in the roundtable alongside Arianespace CEO David Cavaillolès and Daniel Metzler, CEO of the German company Isar Aerospace.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will speak at the summit on Thursday alongside Macron.
France’s Minister of Higher Education and Research, Philippe Baptiste, stated at the opening of the event that “there aren’t enough women in space” and urged that “more” be included.
Baptiste argued that the EU must “strengthen its strategic autonomy” because the bloc “must not let any nation take control of space,” a reference to the race between the United States and China, and noted that critical sectors, such as telecommunications, depend on space.
The minister cited the IRIS² European satellite constellation program as one that should be prioritized. The European Commission has already announced 15.7 billion euros for its implementation. EFE
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