A rocket is launched from a US Space Force base in California. Photo: AFP/PATRICK T. FALLON
The New Zealand and UK space agencies have come up with principles to make it easier for companies to do work in space.
These outline ways to enhance cooperation in operations such as refuelling or removing debris, where spacecraft get close to each other.
This builds on a 50-year-old convention around liability, from back when governments, not industry, put up most spacecraft.
The New Zealand Space Agency said it hopes the new move will help foster international missions.
"The principles and guidance we have developed could apply more broadly to other states, and like the UK, we hope this work can serve as a blueprint to enable these important activities internationally as we look to address the challenges posed by orbital debris," agency head Iain Cossar said in a statement on Monday.
The UK is due to put up its first vertical orbital launches from spaceports in Scotland next year.
The UK Space Agency called it a "world-first arrangement" in the high-growth industry of in-orbit servicing and manufacturing, and space debris removal.