COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The future ability of nations and companies to utilize space will be at grave risk in the absence of multinational cooperation and the establishment of “rules of the road” governing activities in the increasingly crowded orbital environment, a senior U.S. State Department official warned.

Colorado Springs, Colo. — While much of the U.S. space industry reels from federal budget cuts and frets about the future of manned missions, overseas markets are expanding as more nations embrace space for communications, environmental monitoring, resource management and disaster response, according to members of an April 17 panel discussing space applications in emerging nations.