There's a huge difference between earth orbits and deep space. The reality is that the desirable earth orbits are actually fairly crowded, and allowing complete

There's a huge difference between earth orbits and deep space. The reality is that the desirable earth orbits are actually fairly crowded, and allowing completely unregulated access could definitely endanger missions. The differential speeds between orbits are so great that a flake of paint can severely damage a satellite. If we want to have useful satellite missions in the years to come we need to regulate access to space.