Russia Films First Movie in Space, Ahead of the US (Summary)

Filming Crew ISS Docking Success, Scheduled to Stay for 12 Days
Star Trek's William Shatner Also to Travel in Space for 12 Days

On the 5th (local time), the Russian filming team, who boarded a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first-ever movie shoot in outer space, communicated with the ground immediately after arriving at the ISS. From the front row, left to right: lead actress Yuliya Peresild, film director Klim Shipenko, and astronaut Anton Shkaplerov. International Space Station (ISS) = Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) · AP Yonhap News Photo by Roscosmos

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Russia has begun filming a feature-length movie in outer space for the first time in history. The spacecraft carrying the filming crew successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), and filming is expected to continue for the next 12 days. American actor Tom Cruise is also reportedly planning to shoot a movie in space with the support of NASA. It is anticipated that movie and drama productions in outer space will become more active in the future.

On the 5th (local time), according to Russian news agency TASS, the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft carrying the filming crew for the first movie shoot at the ISS was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Onboard were professional astronaut Anton Shkaplerov (49), the film’s director Klim Shipenko (38), and actress Yuliya Peresild (37).

The spacecraft successfully docked with the Russian module of the ISS, Rassvet, about 3 hours and 30 minutes after launch. This marked the first-ever start of movie filming in outer space. The filming crew is expected to stay at the ISS for 12 days to continue shooting.

The movie being produced, tentatively titled "Challenge," tells the story of a doctor trying to save an astronaut suffering from a heart condition. Approximately 35 to 40 minutes of the film will be shot on the ISS. To prepare, director Shipenko and lead actress Peresild have been undergoing spaceflight and adaptation training since May at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center near Moscow.

Russia’s space movie filming has recently attracted attention alongside the dawn of the private space travel era. It signifies that economic activities can now expand into space beyond just space travel.

Earlier, NASA announced in May last year that it was discussing plans to produce a movie on the ISS with American actor and film producer Tom Cruise. However, detailed shooting plans for Tom Cruise have not yet been disclosed.

William Shatner (90), who played Captain James Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the sci-fi drama Star Trek, is also set to embark on space tourism. Shatner plans to travel to space on the New Shepard rocket operated by Blue Origin, the private space company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, on the 12th. If successful, he is expected to become the oldest person ever to travel to space.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.