The Expanse Gets Renewed for Season 5 by Amazon

The Expanse's eagerly anticipated fourth season hasn't yet made its debut on Amazon, but the space exploration science fiction series has already been renewed for Season 5. The announcement came during the Television Critics Association summer press tour Saturday giving fans more than just the upcoming December 13th Season 4 debut date to look forward to.

Based on the popular science fiction novel series by James S.A. Corey (Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham co-authoring under the name), The Expanse was initially canceled by SYFY last year. It was a decision that led to a significant fan outcry and in just a matter of days a petition to save the series garnered over 100,000 signatures, and a banner was even flown over Amazon Studios in an attempt to get more attention to the series. Ultimately, Amazon came through, picking up the series.

"The outpouring of support and enthusiasm from the fans of The Expanse has been remarkable and encouraging," said Alcon Entertainment co-CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson in a statement. "The show's impassioned fan base, including hundreds of thousands of viewers and the likes of George R.R. Martin and Patton Oswalt, appear to be as hopeful as we are that this stunning space drama can find a new home on another platform."

In Season 4 of The Expanse, the series will see the crew of the Rocinante on a mission from the United Nations to explore new worlds beyond the Ring Gate. Humanity has been given 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 with natural resources but also 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. A teaser for from the upcoming season was debuted at San Diego Comic-Con last week. You can check it out in the video up top.

"I think we're in real strong continuity at this point." showrunner Naren Shankar said in a previous interview. "Anybody who's read the books know that the books change pretty radically, sort of season by season. We're in book four now, and if you've read book four, that is set entirely on one of the alien worlds beyond the rings. We're not going quite that far, to, just completely do that as the entire season. But I think one of the strengths of the show is that it keeps changing. But—hopefully we're doing our jobs right."

The Expanse Season 4 debuts December 13 on Amazon.