Good question ! I think it would involve **Dreaming to be able to fly** Any long term rule not to fligh, or not to travel in space, will be challenged. People who have discovered engineering and technology also do science. A scientist will want to fly, to see if it can be done, to see what's up there. Many people *want* to fly.. on Earth, we apes had this dream, for centuries. Very hard to invision high-tech society without that wish. In a few centuries, we succeeded, then we wanted to fly *really high*. Get into orbit. Or to the moon. **Atmosphere** One practical hurdle may have to do with atmospheric layers. When your planet has a very thick atmosphere, it may be dangerous to travel through the turbulence. **Gravity** One other practical hurdle I can think of was found as answer #2 that is large gravitational pull, a big planet, or a relatively weak biology. It would be difficult for gellyfish to withstand the G-forces involved in leaving a planet. **Size/weight** I can add: when your planet inhabitants are technologically advanced and 2 inch tall, this will be a big hurdle to actually leave the planet. They may be able to fly, but building space-safe air tight constructs, as well as "powering up" for escape velocity may be out of reach. **.. or religious constraints** Your planet has a conservative clergy. One of the rules of faith is: you can't fly, only God can fly and the heaven is God's domain and you can't enter it, because if you do, you will always fall and die.