Production
It was announced in April 2022 that Apple TV+ had greenlit the series, created by Peter Harness. Noomi Rapace and Jonathan Banks were announced to star with Michelle MacLaren directing. The following month, James D'Arcy joined the cast, and Oliver Hirschbiegel and Joseph Cedar were announced as additional directors of episodes. Writer Robert Shearman was a story consultant on the show.
The production received a record €10 million grant from the German government's German Motion Picture Fund (GMPF), and €1.5 million in production incentives by Business Finland.
Filming began in July 2022 and concluded in February 2023. Production took place in the German federal states of Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia. The series was partially produced at Babelsberg Studio in Potsdam. Large-scale sets were constructed there, including a realistic replica of the ISS space station, a Soyuz capsule, and various space-themed sets. The film studio served as a production service provider and infrastructure partner. Consequently, both the entrance area of Studio Babelsberg itself and the nearby Film University Babelsberg — including its atriums, corridors and offices — were used to depict the headquarters of the ESA in Cologne. The elaborate interior decorations were installed by the Art Department of Babelsberg Studio. The visible locations also include the open storage facility of the Potsdam Film Museum. Individual scenes were filmed in Teltow. The episode “Valya” was primarily shot on the grounds of the former Beelitz Heilstätten. Additional scenes were filmed in Denmark and Morocco, as well as in the municipality of Inari in northern Finland.
In August 2023, Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported that the series's production companies had failed to pay over €1 million for services the film crew had used in Finnish Lapland, including estate companies, catering and casting services, and an electrical contractor. In September 2023, Helsingin Sanomat reported that the production company Turbine Studios had contacted its creditors by email, announcing its intention to pay the unpaid expenses. As the series had its world-wide premiere on 21 February 2024, the Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat confirmed that a solution for the debts had been settled the previous autumn, but contractors were not able to comment on the terms due to a non-disclosure agreement.
The series was cancelled in May 2024.
