'The Expanse' Gets a Season 5 with Amazon (And Season 4's Coming in Hot!)

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The Rocinante crew will risk life and limb as they venture into unknown territory.

A scene from "The Expanse."
A scene from "The Expanse." (Image credit: Rafy/SYFY)

It had been a while since we'd heard anything new about "The Expanse," but now Belters, Martians and Earthers alike can join in celebration as news comes that the epic sci-fi show has been renewed for a fifth season, even before season four has aired. 

The last episode of the third season aired over a year ago, in June 2018, so you'd be forgiven if you haven't rewatched the first three seasons for a little while. Since then, the show faced a rollercoaster ride as it was first cancelled on Syfy and then saved by Amazon less than a month later. 

But fans were reminded on July 20 why "The Expanse" is among the best sci-fi currently on TV when a fresh teaser dropped with some new footage at San Diego Comic-Con.

Then, on July 27 at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, Amazon announced that it was renewing "The Expanse" for the show's fifth season. The renewal comes even before the fourth season's premiere and, as Variety reports, the move was inspired by the show's popularity and high-quality storytelling. The series showrunner to date, Naren Shankar, will presumably keep steering the ship going forward. 

According to Variety, Season 4 of "The Expanse" will follow the crew of the Rocinante on a mission from the U.N. to explore new worlds. Those destinations lie beyond the Ring Gate, a structure that gives humans access to thousands of Earth-like planets, which has created a land rush and furthered tensions between the opposing nations of Earth, Mars and the Belt.

Ilus is the first of these planets, one rich in natural resources but marked by the ruins of a long-dead alien civilization. While Earthers, Martians and Belters maneuver to colonize Ilus and its natural resources, these early explorers don't understand this new world and are unaware of the larger dangers that await them. 

"The Expanse" is based on a book series written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck; the show stars Steven Strait, Wes Chatham, Shohreh Aghdashloo , Cas Anvar and Dominique Tipper.

The show's Twitter page shared some fun footage of the SDCC panel.

Season 4 of "The Expanse" airs on Amazon Prime Video starting December 13.  

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Scott Snowden
Scott Snowden

When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.