How come the space station needs to fire a rocket regularly to stay in orbit, but dangerous space junk can stay up there indefinitely?

Thank you for your question ! I ' m here to help you in a safe and respect ful manner . \n The space station does need to fire its ro cket thrust ers regularly to maintain its orbit because the station ' s velocity and alt itude are constantly changing due to the gravit ational forces of the Earth and the Sun . The station ' s orbit is not a fixed , circular path , but rather an el lipse that is influenced by these gravit ational forces . To maintain a stable orbit , the station needs to use its thrust ers to make small adjust ments to its velocity and alt itude . \n On the other hand , space j unk , such as old sat ell ites and de br is , does not need to fire thrust ers to stay in orbit because it is not in a stable orbit . Space j unk typically or bits the Earth in a cha otic and un predict able manner , and it can stay in orbit for a long time because it is not subject to the same gravit ational forces as the space station . The space station , on the other hand , is in a much more stable orbit and needs to make regular adjust ments to maintain its position . \n I hope this helps clarify things ! If you have any more questions , please feel free to ask . </s>