Monterey, Calif.

SPACE is becoming an increasingly perilous place.

It is dangerous, of course, because more and more countries are venturing into orbit.

But it is also dangerous because there are precious few international agreements governing national actions in space. No rules of the road forced Russia to de-orbit its long-defunct Cosmos 2251 spacecraft, which would have prevented its collision last week with Iridium’s communications satellite. Yet this event probably left at least 2,000 pieces of hazardous debris in orbit around the earth; all of this debris will have to be tracked and avoided by other spacecraft for decades.

Instead of continuing to cling to the theory of “freedom of action” in space, all space-faring countries would be well advised to sit down and talk about mutual restraint and coordination. The alternative is unacceptable: we will lose our ability to operate in some of the most useful regions of orbital space, particularly those closest to the earth (60 to 1,000 miles up).

In many respects, our level of sophistication in dealing with space “traffic management”  the active and dead satellites and orbital debris that whiz around the earth at speeds of 18,000 miles per hour  is reminiscent of the early days of car travel, when a lack of rules resulted in frequent accidents.