After Billionaire Jeff Bezos returned from space, in the first crewed flight of his rocket ship, New Shepard, he announced to the world that one of the goals is for businesses and companies to relocate to space.

“We need to take all heavy industry, all polluting industry and move it into space, and keep Earth as this beautiful gem of a planet that it is,” the Amazon founder said.

“It’s going to take decades and decades to achieve, but you have to start, and big things start with small steps… that’s what this sub-orbital tourism mission allows us to do. It allows us to practice over and over.”

Bezos returned from space barely days after another billionaire, Richard Branson, made his own trip to space, with a market for space tourism blossoming with each passing day.

Bezos and other participants in the “billionaire space race” have been criticized for offering what some consider joy rides for the super-wealthy.

Critics say the money could have been better spent on pay rises for employees or in fighting climate change.