The German leader’s absence is yet another blow to a summit that several participants criticized as directionless and poorly organized. Last week, top U.S. space companies, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, decided to ditch the event after the White House pressured American companies to back out.
The French government had repeatedly framed the international space summit as an event co-chaired with Germany, though the occasion was largely billed online as belonging to France. On Friday, an Elysée official repeated that the event would be chaired by both France and Germany.
A German diplomat, granted anonymity to speak candidly about Merz’s last-minute cancelation, confirmed that the event will still be co-chaired by Berlin despite the chancellor’s absence.
German Minister for Research, Technology and Space Dorothee Bär and her French counterpart, Philippe Baptiste, are set to open the event. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is slated to speak at a panel, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is also set to deliver a major speech at the summit.