Kristen Stewart Blasts Off: Prime Video Orders New Space Series
After years on the launchpad, Prime Video has officially greenlit The Challenger, a limited series with Kristen Stewart suiting up as astronaut and physicist Sally Ride.
Kristen Stewart is finally going to space — on TV. Prime Video has ordered The Challenger, a limited series with Stewart playing astronaut and physicist Sally Ride.
The story they are telling
Built from Meredith E. Bagby's 2023 book The New Guys, the series tracks NASA's barrier-breaking Astronaut Class of '78 — the first group to include women and people of color — and follows Ride from recruitment and training through the highs and lows of the early shuttle era, leading up to her history-making flight as the first American woman in space.
Given the title, yes, the 1986 Challenger tragedy is part of the timeline. The shuttle broke apart shortly after liftoff that January, killing all seven crew members, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Because of the Teacher in Space program, a huge number of classrooms were watching live. (Ride, to be clear, was not on that mission.)
Who's behind it
Maggie Cohn (The Staircase) will write, executive produce, and serve as showrunner. Stewart is starring and also executive producing.
- Executive producers: Kristen Stewart, Maggie Cohn, Kyra Sedgwick, Valerie Stadler, Dylan Meyer, Maggie McLean, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Meredith E. Bagby, James Hawes
Why this could hit
Stewart as Sally Ride is sharp casting — she's at her best playing intensely private people who don't grandstand. And centering the '78 class suggests this won't just be a disaster reenactment; it sounds more like a character-driven look at how NASA changed, who got to step inside the room, and what it cost them to stay there.