66,000+ People Sign Petition to Stop Jeff Bezos from Returning to Earth After Spaceflight

More than 66,000 people have signed two petitions calling to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to not return to earth after he leaves the planet on a Blue Origin rocket next month.

Business Insider reports that more than 66,000 people have signed two petitions calling for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to not reenter Earth’s atmosphere after he launches into space next month. Bezos, who along with running Amazon and enjoying his status as the world’s richest man is also the founder of space-exploration firm Blue Origin, said earlier this month that he and his brother Mark Bezos would be flying into space aboard the company’s New Shepard rocket on July 20.

The launch will be Blue Origin’s first flight carrying people. Three days after Bezos’ announcement, two different petitions were launched in an attempt to prevent the billionaire from returning to Earth. Each garnered thousands of followers in just 10 days, with more than 46,000 people signing a Change.org petition titled “Do not allow Jeff Bezos to return to Earth.”

The petition description states: “Billionaires should not exist…on earth, or in space, but should they decide the latter they should stay there.” Many signatories provided reasoning for their signing, such as “being let back into Earth is a privilege — not a right,” and “Earth don’t want people like Jeff, Bill, Elon and other such billionaires” referring to Bill Gates and Elon Musk.

Another petition, called “Petition To Not Allow Jeff Bezos Re-Entry To Earth,” has received more than 20,000 signatures. Jose Ortiz, who set up the petition, said in the description that Bezos was “an evil overlord hellbent on global domination.” He added: “The fate of humanity is in your hands.”

Both petitions are seeking 25,000 to 50,000 signatures which would make them two of the top-signed petitions on Change.org.