With Brooklyn Nine-Nine having recently been spared the axe due to a mass fan outcry, fans of SyFy’s The Expanse are hoping they can achieve something similar. A change.org petition imploring Amazon, or Netflix, or anyone else available to pick up the sci-fi drama has passed 50,000 signatures in only a few days – a number which is still climbing.

Based on James S. A. Corey’s Hugo-award-winning series of novels, the series follows a space-detective tracking down a missing young woman in a future where Earth has colonised the entire solar system – with Mars, the Asteroid Belt, and Earth itself being potential flashpoints for conflict. The investigation turns out to be part of a vast conspiracy, because when you have the budget for a sci-fi series of this scale you don’t pussyfoot around on the plot.

After airing on SyFy for three seasons, with the third clocking an impressive 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, SyFy dropped it earlier this year. Allegedly this is due to SyFy only having first-run linear rights to the series, which means little in these days of streaming and video on demand. (True to form, Netflix is already distributing the first and second seasons internationally – hence the petition specifically naming them as potential acquisitors.) However, declining viewing figures – in spite of its exemplary ratings – may have played a part as well.

While the writing and cinematography have both drawn positive feedback, the series has also been praised for its scientific accuracy. Astrophysicist Adam Frank claimed, “More than any other TV space-themed show, it gets the science right. It does this because it has to — and that’s what makes it interesting”, arguing that deliberately imposed restraints such as devotion to scientific accuracy can (and in this case, does) spur greater creativity.

Season three of The Expanse is still airing weekly, with the finale set to air on June 27th. When it does, there will be at least 50,000 people hoping there’s more to come.

Update: While at the time of writing the change.org petition is still yet to reach its 75,000 signature goal (although it’s probably only hours away), a fan GoFundMe has gathered over $4000 in donations to harass Amazon studios by having a plane fly around their building with a banner bearing the legend ‘#SaveTheExpanse’. You’ll notice that message is a Twitter hashtag – you remember Twitter, it’s that thing that allows people to transmit messages all over the world instantly, without first checking the windspeed or even having to shout ‘chocks away’. Nevertheless, this will certainly prove to everyone – particularly Amazon – just how devoted the fanbase are.

Correction: an earlier version of this article claimed the finale would air on May 30th.