Sarah Toce
Amazon MGM Studios is heading to space with a new prestige drama, officially greenlighting The Challenger, a limited series starring Kristen Stewart as pioneering astronaut Sally Ride. The project marks a major television milestone for Stewart, who is set to both lead and executive produce the series for Prime Video.
The series will chart Ride’s groundbreaking journey as the first American woman in space, tracing her rise through NASA’s astronaut program in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It will also explore her role in the aftermath of the 1986 Challenger disaster, when she served on the investigative commission tasked with uncovering what went wrong.
Created by writer-producer Maggie Cohn, the drama draws inspiration from Meredith E. Bagby’s book The New Guys and will be directed by filmmaker James Hawes. Behind the scenes, the project brings together a notable producing team, including Kyra Sedgwick and Amblin Television, signaling a high-profile collaboration aimed at blending historical drama with character-driven storytelling.
Beyond its historical scope, The Challenger is expected to delve into Ride’s personal life and the barriers she faced in a male-dominated field. Widely celebrated for her achievements in space exploration, Ride also kept much of her private life out of the public eye, with details of her long-term same-sex relationship revealed only after her death.
For Stewart—whose career has spanned blockbuster franchises and acclaimed indie performances—the series represents a new frontier. The role continues her trajectory of portraying complex real-life figures, while introducing her to episodic television for the first time in a leading capacity. With no premiere date yet announced, The Challenger is shaping up to be one of Prime Video’s most anticipated limited series in development.
