The normally genteel world of international space policy turned ugly this week as several prominent US space companies—including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, K2, and Starcloud—pulled out of a high-profile French space summit organized by the country's president, Emmanuel Macron.

Politico first reported the diplomatic turmoil, saying that the White House "pressured" US space companies to skip Macron's space summit in Paris next week. Since then, the companies have largely pulled out of the meeting without commenting publicly, though some US representation remains on the two-day program.

Multiple sources confirmed to Ars that an official with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, or OSTP, led the call with US space companies late last week. The call was convened in response to queries from US industry about the French meeting, which is not part of the traditional circuit of international space conferences.

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Reform UK’s plan to use the Royal Navy to return small boats to France has been exposed as unworkable less than 24 hours after it was announced.

At a Reform press conference yesterday, Nigel Farage said that a Reform government would use the Royal Navy to intercept people on small boats, transfer them into military vessels and return them to France. 

If the French government refused to accept the returns, Reform’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, said the marines would return them to the French coast anyway.

If the UK government returned migrants to France without the French government’s consent, this would break international law.

France immediately rejected Reform’s plans after they were announced yesterday.

The French interior ministry said: “This would constitute a violation of French sovereignty, as well as a violation of the law of the sea and international law.”

Mother of the House, Diane Abbott MP, responded to the proposal on X,stating: “This is pure distraction. Reform UK must know that the Royal Navy cannot break international law, which they would be doing with this policy.”

Reform has rejected claims that its policy would breach international law. They instead claimed that intercepting migrants in the Channel and taking them to France would be “a humanitarian mission”.

John Foreman, a former Royal Navy officer, responded to Reform’s proposal, stating “What, and I use the phrase carefully, a crock of shit their plan is.”

Foreman also told The Guardian that “Mariners are obliged to rescue people at sea in distress and to not create conditions for putting them in distress.”

There are concerns that if Royal Navy vessels were to approach dinghies in the Channel, migrants may be reluctant to cooperate out of fear that they could be arrested or returned. 

This strategy has been considered before. In 2022, Boris Johnson’s government launched Operation Isotrope, which the then home secretary, Priti Patel, said would attempt to make crossing the Channel “unviable”.

The plan to use ships to force small boats to turn around back towards France was abandoned due to concerns from military figures that it would be impractical, dangerous, and leave naval officers open to legal action.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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