I think there are three points that explain thatFirstly space debris is a real concern and it does not need to be as dense as movies want you to think . There generally are huge differences in velocities between two objects eg . the station and a piece of debris . So an object can be a direct danger if it ' s still a long distance but not necessarily a long time away . If the ISS were to float in a big soup of slowly tumbling debris it wouldn ' t be that much of a problem since the relative speeds are very low . Besides that , we know where the ISS is located , so people who send stuff up make sure they don ' t park their satellite in an orbit close to the station . Space is big . When you ' re talking about something that is close in this context it could easily still entail a few miles . You wouldn ' t be able to recognise a satellite if it was parked on the ground a few miles in the distance . Neither would you if it were to float by in outer space . Finally a lot of debris burns up in the atmosphere . The ISS is located in LEO Low Earth Orbit which really isn ' t that high . Our atmosphere still has influence on objects floating around there . The ISS needs a reboost once in a while because it ' s being dragged down by the atmosphere . Small debrislike objects are lighter and have less surface so they will generally be dragged down quicker .