The lead U.S. negotiator on space policy and the Pentagon's principal steward of space assets validated a draft European Union (EU) space code as a good starting point toward an international set of rules governing responsible space behavior. Both expressed concerns with the EU's Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities in its current draft form, and insisted that all relevant parts of the U.S. government are involved in a coordinated push for broader and less-limiting guidelines. "We are very interested in continuing to promote responsible uses of space," Gen. William Shel-ton, commander of U.S. Air Force Space Command, said in response to a Space News query on the draft EU code. But Shelton struck a cautionary tone with respect to the code following his address at an international space conference here. "We are certainly concerned about anything that would limit our so-called freedom of action in space," he said. "We want to continue to use space for our purposes both economically and for national security, and any limitations on that use would be of concern to us."
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