"My dream is that a new agency like the International Telecommunications Union will be proposed at UN level to coordinate all this activity, " said Dr Claudio Portelli from the Italian space agency (Asi).

BBC: 'Urgent need' to remove space debris

In discussion several times this morning with Secretary Tom Ridge, the effort is heavily under way to coordinate an understanding of exactly where the orbiter path had taken it from West Texas toward the Kennedy Space Center here in Florida, and to make sure that the material on the ground is secured so that the investigation can begin promptly.

CNN: O'Keefe: 'A tragic day for the NASA family'