​The Philippines has urged a United Nations (UN) panel to elaborate the member countries' duty of "due regard" in connection with responsible behavior in outer space.

The call came after the panel, officially called the Open-Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats Through Norms, Rules, and Principle of Responsible Behaviors (OEWG), failed to come up with a consensus on a set of recommendations regarding such concern to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Russia vetoed attempts to develop norms that would limit threatening military activities in outer space.

In an event organized by the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, the Philippines' deputy representative, Kristine Salle, noted that "the duty of due regard is a foundational principle of responsible behavior in space."

The Philippines' position was shared by many other countries, which stressed that all space activities must be conducted in compliance with this "due regard" obligation, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

"These include a moratorium on any intentional creation of space debris and a mechanism for exchanges of notifications related to rocket launches," DFA said.

"Many countries, including the Philippines, are vulnerable to debris falling from rocket launches," it added, citing the importance of such an elaboration.

In making the call, the Philippines submitted a working paper before the panel that argues that the "consistency in international law demands that the interpretation of the duty of 'due regard' in the context of international space law does not dramatically depart from its existing application under the law of the sea."

"Law of the sea jurisprudence has since clarified that the 'duty of due regard' represents a balancing of rights and interests between and among states, and between states and the international community as a whole,” Noelle Castillo, Director of Space Policy and International Cooperation at the Philippine Space Agency, said.