The United States has decided to join the European Union, and other nations, in drawing up an International Code of Conduct for dealing with outer space activities.
"The long-term sustainability of our space environment is at serious risk from space debris," said secretary of state Hillary Clinton, in a statement. "Ensuring the stability, safety, and security of our space systems is of vital interest to the United States."
A proposal was first submitted to the Conference on Disarmament by the European Union in 2009. It came shortly after US communications satellite Iridium 33 collided with the defunct Russian orbiter Kosmos 2251.
Under the draft's proposed list of guidelines, participating nations would pledge to "implement national policies to minimise the possibility of accidents in space," "take appropriate steps to minimise the risk of collision," and notify participants of any manoeuvres, orbital changes, re-entries, collisions and malfunctions that might affect them.
The United States will work with the EU and other nations to draw up a final code of conduct that everyone can agree on.
The US makes clear that it "will not enter into a code of conduct that in any way constrains our national security-related activities in space or our ability to protect the United States". Back in 2008, America rejected a proposed ban on space weapons from China and Russia.
"We are, however, committed to working together to reverse the troubling trends that are damaging our space environment and to preserve the limitless benefits and promise of space for future generations."
In other space junk news, Russia's failed Phobos-Grunt spacecraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean this month after failing to fly to Mars. Last year, pieces of Nasa's UARS climate satellite plunged into the Pacific Ocean off California. The International Space station also recently wiggled past a 10 centimetre-wide piece of dead satellite.
Nasa says there are more than 20,000 pieces of debris larger than a tennis ball orbiting the Earth, 500,000 pieces of debris the size of a marble or larger and many millions of pieces of junk that are so small they can't be effectively tracked.
"The long-term sustainability of our space environment is at serious risk from space debris," said secretary of state Hillary Clinton, in a statement. "Ensuring the stability, safety, and security of our space systems is of vital interest to the United States."
A proposal was first submitted to the Conference on Disarmament by the European Union in 2009. It came shortly after US communications satellite Iridium 33 collided with the defunct Russian orbiter Kosmos 2251.
Under the draft's proposed list of guidelines, participating nations would pledge to "implement national policies to minimise the possibility of accidents in space," "take appropriate steps to minimise the risk of collision," and notify participants of any manoeuvres, orbital changes, re-entries, collisions and malfunctions that might affect them.
The United States will work with the EU and other nations to draw up a final code of conduct that everyone can agree on.
The US makes clear that it "will not enter into a code of conduct that in any way constrains our national security-related activities in space or our ability to protect the United States". Back in 2008, America rejected a proposed ban on space weapons from China and Russia.
"We are, however, committed to working together to reverse the troubling trends that are damaging our space environment and to preserve the limitless benefits and promise of space for future generations."
In other space junk news, Russia's failed Phobos-Grunt spacecraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean this month after failing to fly to Mars. Last year, pieces of Nasa's UARS climate satellite plunged into the Pacific Ocean off California. The International Space station also recently wiggled past a 10 centimetre-wide piece of dead satellite.
Nasa says there are more than 20,000 pieces of debris larger than a tennis ball orbiting the Earth, 500,000 pieces of debris the size of a marble or larger and many millions of pieces of junk that are so small they can't be effectively tracked.
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