US okay with global rules for space

The US has decided to join the EU and other nations to draw up an international code of conduct for outer space activities, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.

The US has decided to join the EU and other nations to draw up an international code of conduct for outer space activities, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.

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Space systems "allow the free flow of information across platforms that open up our global markets, enhance weather forecasting and environmental monitoring, and enable global navigation and transportation," said Clinton in a statement.

Countries signing up to the code would pledge to maintain freedom of access and use of outer space "for peaceful purposes, fully respecting safety and integrity of space objects in orbit," according to the text released in Geneva in 2009.

Clinton said Washington "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 and our allies".