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

Star City — Official Trailer | Apple TV - YouTube Star City — Official Trailer | Apple TV - YouTube
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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."

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a promo banner for a sci-fi tv show

Promotional art for Apple TV's "Stary City." (Image credit: Apple TV)

"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."

a Soviet spacecraft above the lunar surface

An intense EVA scene from Apple TV's "Star City." (Image credit: Apple TV)

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.

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+:

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 Spry
Contributing 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.

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