[JumpCrisscross]

> can you please explain why it would be bad to "pollute" space? Do things fall back into the atmosphere and burn up and sprinkle ash back onto the earth?

The risk of space junk falling on people is tiny. The chief concern is around collisions in orbit. Worst case: "collisions between objects could cause a cascade where each collision generates space debris that increases the likelihood of further collisions," which could create a "distribution of debris in orbit [that] could render space activities and the use of satellites in specific orbital ranges unfeasible for many generations" [1].

These regulations are about protecting affordable access to space, by managing the risk of collisions.

(Eventually, yes, most things will fall down or burn up or drift away. But that process can take years if not millennia.)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome