List of films featuring space stations

There is a body of films that feature space stations. Science fiction films are the most popular genre to have featured both real-life space stations such as the International Space Station and Mir as well as fictional ones such as the Death Star and the Satellite of Love.

The International Space Station has been featured in several films, including Challenge, Yolki 5, Gravity, The Day After Tomorrow, Love, A Beautiful Planet and Space Station 3D.

List of films

Non-documentary films involving direct use of a real space station as a plot

Film	Release year	Space station	Spacecraft transporting the crew	Spacecraft transporting the filming equipment	Cast aboard the space station during production	Time aboard on space station during production	Time shot on space station during production	Reference
Return from Orbit	1984	Salyut 7	Soyuz T-9	Soyuz T-9	Vladimir Lyakhov (Astronaut) Aleksandr Aleksandrov (Astronaut)	27 June - 23 November 1983 (149 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes)	Unknown	[1]
Apogee of Fear	2012	International Space Station	Soyuz TMA-13/TMA-12/STS-124	Soyuz TMA-13/TMA-12	Yuri Lonchakov (Astronaut) Michael Fincke (Astronaut) Greg Chamitoff (Astronaut) Richard Garriott (Director)	14 - 24 October 2008 (11 days, 20 hours, 35 minutes)	8 minutes	[2]
Yolki 5	2016	International Space Station	Soyuz TMA-16M/TMA-18M	Soyuz TMA-16M/TMA-18M/Soyuz MS-02	Mikhail Kornienko (Astronaut)	27 June - 23 November 1983 (340 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes)	3-4 minutes	[3][4]
			Soyuz MS-02	Soyuz MS-02	Andrey Borisenko (Astronaut)	21 October 2016 - 10 April 2017
The Challenge (Vyzov)	2023	International Space Station	Soyuz MS-19/18	Progress MS-17/Soyuz MS-18	Anton Shkaplerov (Cosmonaut) Oleg Novitsky (Cosmonaut) Pyotr Dubrov (Cosmonaut) Klim Shipenko (Director) Yulia Peresild (Actress) Mark T. Vande Hei (Astronaut)	5 - 17 October 2021 (11 days, 12 hours, 52 minutes)	35-40 minutes	[5]

Films involving indirect use of a real space station or partially fictionalized^[A] space station as a plot

Film	Year	Space station	Notes	Ref.
Armageddon	1998	Mir		[6]
A Beautiful Planet	2016	International Space Station		[7]
Contact	1997	Mir		[6]
The Day After Tomorrow	2004	International Space Station		[8]
Gravity	2013	International Space Station and Tiangong-1		[9]
I.S.S.	2024	International Space Station		[10]
Life	2017	International Space Station	Heavily modified to include additional pressurized modules	[11]
Love	2011	International Space Station		[12]
Marooned	1969	S-IVB Orbital Workshop	Similar to wet workshop designs considered for Skylab.	[13]
Mission to Mars	2000	World Space Station	Appears to be the International Space Station modified to accommodate an Artificial gravity ring.	[14]
Mission to Mir	1997	Mir		[15]
Out of the Present	1995	Mir		[16]
Salyut-7	2017	Salyut 7		[17]
Searching for Skylab	2019	Skylab		[18]
Space Explorers: The ISS Experience	2020	International Space Station		[19]
Space Station 3D	2002	International Space Station		[20]
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets	2017	Alpha (former International Space Station)	Incredibly modified, to the point of near nonrecognition. The structure of the modern ISS is only briefly seen in the opening montage.	[21]

Films involving use of a fully fictionalized space station as a plot

Film	Year	Space station	Ref.
51 Degrees North	2015		[22]
2001: A Space Odyssey	1968	Space Station V	[6]
3022	2019		[23]
Ad Astra	2019	Norwegian biomedical research space station	[24]
Aliens	1986	Gateway Station	[25]
Alien: Romulus	2024	Renaissance	[26]
Android	1982	Terraport Station ULC-53	[27]
Arena	1989		[28]
Assignment: Outer Space	1960	Zulu Extra 34	[29][30]
Cargo	2009	Station 42	[31]
The Cloverfield Paradox	2018	Cloverfield Station	[32]
Conquest of Space	1955	The Wheel	[25]
The Creator	2023	U.S.S. NOMAD	[33]
Dante 01	2008	Dante 01	[34]
Dark City	1998	The City	[35]
Earth II	1971	Earth II	[36]
Elysium	2013	Elysium	[37]
Ender's Game	2013	Battle School	[38]
Enemy Mine	1985		[39]
Event Horizon	1997	Daylight Space Station	[40]
Fortress 2: Re-Entry	2000		[41]
Geostorm	2017	International Space Station IV	[42]
The Green Slime	1968	Gamma 3	[36]
Hellraiser: Bloodline	1996	Minos	[43]
Interstellar	2014	Cooper Station	[44]
Io	2019		[45]
Jason X	2002	Solaris research space station	[46]
Lockout	2012	MS One	[47]
Macross: Do You Remember Love?	1984	SDF-1	[48]
Moonraker	1979		[6]
Moonfall	2022	Unnamed SpaceX refueling station	[49]
The Marvels	2023	S.A.B.R.E Space Station	[50]
Mutiny in Outer Space	1965		[36]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie	1996	Satellite of Love	[38]
The Noah's Ark Principle	1984	Florida Arklab	[51]
Oblivion	2013	The Tet	[52]
Planet of the Apes	2001	Oberon	[53]
Project Moonbase	1953		[54]
Queen of Outer Space	1958		[55]
Rampage	2018		[56]
Red Planet	2000	High Orbit Space Station / Mars-1	[35][57]
Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles	2006	Space Station Liberty	[58]
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story	2016	Death Star	[59]
Solaris	1972	Solaris Station	[60]
Solaris	2002	Prometheus Station	[60]
Space Buddies	2009	Russian Research Space Station (R.R.S.S)	[61]
SpaceCamp	1986	Daedalus	[38]
Space Station 76	2014	Omega 76 Space Station	[62]
Star Crystal	1986		[63]
Star Trek Beyond	2016	Yorktown	[64]
Star Trek: The Motion Picture	1979	Orbital office complex	[65]
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan	1982	Regula I	[65]
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock	1984	Earth Spacedock	[65]
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home	1986	Earth Spacedock	[65]
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier	1989	Earth Spacedock	[65]
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country	1991	Earth Spacedock	[65]
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace	1999	Droid Control Ship	[66]
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith	2005	Death Star	[6]
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope	1977	Death Star	[6]
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi	1983	Death Star II	[6]
Starship Troopers	1997	Ticonderoga	[67]
Starship Troopers: Invasion	2012	Fort Casey	[68]
Stowaway	2021		[69]
Thunderbirds	2004	Thunderbird 5	[70]
Thunderbird 6	1968	Thunderbird 5	[70]
Tik Tik Tik	2018		[71]
Titan A.E.	2000	Salvage Station TAU 14 New Bangkok	[72]
The Wandering Earth	2019	International Space Station	[73]
War of the Planets	1966		[55]
Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century	1999		[74]
Zenon: The Zequel	2001		[74]
Zenon: Z3	2004		[75]

Notes

A.^ Partially fictionalized meaning either directly based on a heavily studied real concept/station (e.g. the S-IVB Orbital Workshop in Marooned), or an extension of an existing modern station (e.g. the World Space Station in Mission to Mars being an extension of the International Space Station.) Some stations share the name of real space stations (e.g. the International Space Station in The Wandering Earth) but are otherwise unrelated, these are in the "fully fictionalized" category.

See also

The following films also include spacecraft that have also been called space stations by outside sources:

• Silent Running (1972), which features the space freighter Valley Forge^[76]
• The Fifth Element (1997), which features the space liner Fhloston Paradise^[77]
• WALL-E (2008), which features the generation ship Axiom^[78]