How did the USSR win the space race to beat the US to the moon in Apple TV's new 'Star City'?

Click for next article

• Copy link
• Facebook
• X
• Whatsapp
• Reddit
• Pinterest
• Flipboard
• Email

Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful

Want to add more newsletters?

An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Star City — Official Trailer | Apple TV - YouTube Watch On

The world just witnessed Artemis 2's inspiring loop around the moon and back and we’re all still enraptured by NASA’s triumphant effort to return humanity to our lone satellite. Now Apple TV is turning back the clock to those early pioneering days when America and the USSR were locked in a lunar sprint with a compelling trailer for its new "For All Mankind" spinoff series, "Star City."

Now entering its fifth season last month, "For All Mankind's" alt-history hit has presented a very different timeline where the Russians landed on the moon first in 1969, which spurred a furious catch-up policy that extended the Apollo missions far beyond 1972 and eventually on to Mars where the Happy Valley colony was established.

In real life of course, the United States touched down on lunar soil with NASA's Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969 with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin taking those first steps for all Mankind. This fresh trailer is a solemn look at Russia's super-secret space program as they fought to beat the Americans and maintain the necessary technological and psychological edge following their summer voyage to the moon.

Article continues below

"I take this step for my country, for my people, and for the Marxist-Leninist way of life," states a Soviet cosmonaut as his boots step onto the lunar regolith.

"Star City" will fuel its narrative by focusing on the Soviet's perspective of placing human's on the moon in the 1960s using all the perils, paranoia, and pitfalls that went into their historic landing within this fictional universe. Created by "For All Mankind's" Ronald D. Moore, Ben Nedivi, and Matt Wolpert, this Russian-flavored, 8-episode series blasts off starting on May 29, 2026.

"Our fascination with the Soviet space program has grown with every season of 'For All Mankind,'" said Wolpert and Nedivi for the series' 2024 announcement. "The more we learned about this secret city in the forests outside Moscow where the Soviet cosmonauts and engineers worked and lived, the more we wanted to tell this story of the other side of the space race."

The companion show's cast of Soviet cosmonauts, engineers, politicians, journalists, spies, scientists, and KGB operatives includes Rhys Ifans, Anna Maxwell Martin, Agnes O’Casey, Alice Englert, Solly McLeod, Adam Nagaitis, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, Josef Davies, and Priya Kansara.

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

Apple TV's "Star City" premieres globally with two episodes Friday, May 29, 2026 followed by new chapters each Friday through July 10.

Watch For All Mankind & Star City on Apple TV+:
Apple TV+: $12.99/month (7-day free trial)
Apple TV & Peacock Premium: $14.99/month

Jeff SpryContributing Writer

Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.

View More

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Logout MORE FROM SPACE...

1. 1Comet PanSTARRS approaches Earth on April 26. Here's how to catch it in satellite imagery this weekend
2. 2Famous asteroid Ryugu may have been bombarded by a swarm of tiny space rocks 1,000 years ago
3. 3'Guess I'll be waiting a minute to surf again': Artemis 2 moon astronaut Christina Koch shares her recovery journey
4. 4A Lego 'Project Hail Mary' set just soared into the stratosphere, breaking the Guinness World Record for highest flight
5. 5Ice melts in the springtime on Mars | Space photo of the day for April 24, 2026