January 21, 2026

— Just as NASA is preparing to return humans to the moon, Apple TV is ready to take us all back to Mars.

"For All Mankind," the streaming service's critically-acclaimed alternate space history series, will debut its long-awaited fifth season on Friday, March 27. After a two-year break, the show will resume with one new episode every Friday through May 29.

"For All Mankind" began with the premise that in 1969 the Soviet Union beat the United States to land the first human on the moon. Over the course of the four seasons since — and roughly decadal time line jumps between each — the series has examined the possible effects of the space race never ending, both on space exploration and life on Earth.

In reality, NASA is just getting ready to launch astronauts on the first mission to fly to the moon since 1972. In season four of "For All Mankind," the residents of an international Mars settlement successfully divert a mineral-rich asteroid from being redirected into Earth orbit and keep it around the red planet for their own benefit. The year is 2003.

"Season five of 'For All Mankind' picks up in the years since the Goldilocks asteroid heist," reads a synopsis provided by Apple. "Happy Valley has grown into a thriving colony with thousands of residents and a base for new missions that will take us even further into the solar system. But with the nations of Earth now demanding law and order on the Red Planet, friction continues to build between the people who live on Mars and their former home."

For All Mankind: Season 5 teaser. Click to enlarge video in new pop-up window. (Apple TV)

A teaser clip accompanying the date announcement shows an astronaut riding a motorcycle across the surface of Mars.

"Everything that happened has led to this moment," says a voiceover. The speaker is unidentified, but it sounds like Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman), an Apollo astronaut who by season four has moved to Mars. "You are going to do things people cannot even fathom. It's on you to make the next move."

Baldwin seems to be addressing the young astronaut on the bike (Sean Kaufman), who by the end of the 36-second video is revealed by a name tag to be Baldwin's grandson, Alex.

The ensemble cast returning for season five includes Kinnaman, Toby Kebbell as Mars settler Miles Dale, Edi Gathegi as the billionaire entrepreneur Dev Ayesa, Cynthy Wu as second-generation astronaut Kelly Baldwin, Coral Peña as flight controller-turned-aerospace executive Aleida Rosales and Wrenn Schmidt as the NASA director-turned-convicted operative Margo Madison.

Joining them for the new season as regulars are Kaufman ("The Summer I Turned Pretty"); Mirelle Enos ("The Killing," "Hanna") as Celia Boyd, a security officer on Mars; Costa Ronin ("The Americans," "Homeland"), Leonid Polivanov, a former cosmonaut; Ruby Cruz ("Bottoms") as Lily Dale, the daughter of Miles Dale; and Ines Asserson ("Royalteen"), as A.J. Jarrett, a U.S. Marine training to go to space.

In addition to the on-going seasons of "For All Mankind," Apple TV has in work a spinoff series, "Star City," which will look at the events of the alternate timeline from the perspective of the Soviets. A premiere date for "Star City" has not been announced.

"For All Mankind" was created by Ronald D. Moore ("Star Trek," "Battlestar Galactica"), together with showrunners Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi. Moore, Wolpert and Nedivi also serve as executive producers along with Maril Davis of Tall Ship Productions, Kira Snyder, David Weddle, Bradley Thompson and Seth Edelstein. The series is produced for Apple TV by Sony Pictures Television.