WASHINGTON (States News Service) - The commercial space industry and the U.S. government should start considering changes to existing international space law, a State Department official said in a speech Tuesday night.

Ambassador Kenneth Brill, acting director of the State Department's division of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, made his remarks in a keynote address during the opening ceremonies of the International Space Business Assembly.

"It is not too early for government and industry to enter into a dialogue about whether some modest additions to existing space law would be appropriate," Brill said.

Law governing the space industry was formulated at the United Nations during the Cold War in the late '60s when space was dominated by government launches.

There are no formal plans for an industry forum on changes to existing legislation, Brill said later, and discussions would have to be "informal at first." There are also no formal proposals from the State Department.

"Nothing we're ready to take outside the building," Brill joked.

Brill said during his speech that the State Department is "not insulated from these exciting developments" in commercial space, despite the fact that "no one has developed pinstriped spacesuits."

Besides the International Space Station, a project that has involved foreign negotiations, Brill said the State Department has a number of space projects in the works.

The European Space Agency is planning a satellite navigation network, similar to the U.S. Global Positioning System, called Galileo, Brill said. The U.S. will start negotiating with them next month, he said, to ensure that Galileo is fully compatible with GPS.

The State Department will also work with NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensory Technology Program (ERSAT), Brill said, which will allow for "remote-controlled, solar-powered, high-altitude platforms that can stay aloft for months at a time." Such technology would help in predicting natural disasters and directing relief efforts in "the most isolated parts of the world" that may not have satellite resources, he said.