If, like me, you often find yourself craving a wholesome space documentary that tells the tales of historic missions, amazing discoveries, and the search for life on other planets,Netflixhas your back. Here are five great space docs—each under three hours—you can watch this week.
Please refer to official age ratings and content warnings before watching the documentaries listed in this article.
2020
1
4
Overall Running Time
2 hours 58 minutes
If I had to rank all the documentaries across all genres I’ve ever watched on Netflix,Challenger: The Final Flightwould probably be my number one.
On June 16, 2025, the Challenger shuttle sat on the Cape Canaveral launchpad, ready for liftoff. This wasn’t just any old mission—teacher Christa Auliffe was the first civilian selected for a spaceflight as part of NASA’s Teacher in Space Project.
However, just 73 seconds into the flight, the unthinkable happened—the shuttle exploded, killing all seven crew members on board. For the millions worldwide watching the live broadcast—including Auliffe’s students at her school—it was a shocking and tragic turn of events that nobody saw coming. But behind the scenes, some people weren’t so surprised, as engineers had raised serious concerns about launching in the freezing January conditions.
This highly emotional documentary gives us unprecedented, behind-the-scenes insight into the lead-up to the launch, the events as they unfolded, and the response of the American people, NASA, and relatives of the victims in the aftermath. Interviews with Allen McDonald, Joe Kilminster, and Larry Malloy—who were all involved in the launch decision-making process—add an extra layer of authenticity to this excellent documentary.
Unlike other tragedy docs,Challenger: The Final Flightfocuses on the victims as much as the things that went wrong—a fitting tribute to the heroes who stepped foot on the ill-fated shuttle.
2 hours 54 minutes
As its title suggests,Alien Worldsis an imagination of what life could look like on other worlds in the Universe. So, if you’re looking for purely factual content, this is probably not the one for you.
However, if you’re looking for something that blends science fact with fiction through stunning visuals and a powerful soundtrack, set aside three hours to enjoy this thought-provoking docuseries. Narrated by British actress and narrator Sophie Okenodo and conceived by Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and producer Nigel Paterson,Alien Worldsuses Earth-based logic and science to explore what kinds of life could exist on planets whose gravities, day and night cycles, and atmosphere differ from ours.
In my opinion, there aren’t enough serious documentaries about what alien life might be like, so this is a refreshing and well-delivered take on the age-old question, “Is there life elsewhere?”
2024
1 hour 38 minutes
“Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here” were not the words Jack Lousma, the Apollo 13 capsule communicator astronaut at Mission Control, wanted to hear from Jack Swigert, the Command Module Pilot aboard the Odyssey module. Little did Lousma know that those words triggered the start of an 88-hour operation to return the three astronauts to Earth alive. And you can relive it all from the comfort of your sofa withApollo 13: Survival.
The Apollo 13 mission—which launched in April 1970—was set to be the third lunar landing, following the successes of its predecessors, Apollo 11 in July 1969 and Apollo 12 in November of the same year. However, when astronauts Lovell, Swigert, and Haise heard a dull bang throughout the spacecraft nearly 56 hours into the flight—and alarm lights started flashing left, right, and center—attention quickly turned to working out whether they were dealing with an instrumentation issue or a more sinister problem.
This one-off documentary is purely compelling viewing. It’s framed in a way that lets you feel the gravity of the situation, with the doc jumping back and forth between spacecraft footage, engineers on the ground, the astronauts' families, and TV news reports. As a result, you find yourself holding your breath—as did the whole world in April 1970—as the astronauts and Mission Control work to fix the problem.
So, strap in, close the curtains, and immerse yourself in the breathtakingApollo 13: Survival.
2022
2 hours 8 minutes
When SpaceX’s Crew Dragon docked with the International Space Station in May 2020, it became the first commercial spacecraft in history to do so.Return to Spacetakes you through the journey that made it all possible for Elon Musk’s spaceflight company, with well-placed flashbacks, engaging storytelling, and skilled editing.
Told primarily from the perspective of astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley and SpaceX founder Musk, this is a story of hard work, grit, determination, and—inevitably—risk. It’s educational, light-hearted, and, if nothing else, an inspiring reminder of the power of human intelligence and capability.
Return to Spaceis as much a documentary about the inner workings of a cutting-edge space company as one about the personal mission of a man who wants to “have a base on the moon.” If you’re into science, engineering, technology, space, business, or a combination of the above, this is the documentary for you.
2023
1 hour 4 minutes
Since the James Webb Space Telescope launched on the Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in 2021, it’s made numerous groundbreaking discoveries and beamed thousands of breathtaking photographs back to Earth.
However, the hard work that NASA—alongside the European and Canadian Space Agencies—put in before the largest and most powerful space telescope even left terra firma is often overlooked. That’s whyUnknown: Cosmic Time Machineis such an important documentary that anyone with even a fleeting interest in space must watch.
This informative film, which documents the two-decade, $10 billion journey from conception to realization, is detailed yet understandable, technical yet well-explained. It has you on the edge of your seat as you join the search for life on other planets, and opens up a whole new world of discovery for you to feast your eyes upon.
Netflix is home to documentaries of many types, ranging from bizarre true stories togripping tales of crime. So, what are you waiting for? Get binging now before the docs on yourNetflix watchlistdisappear!
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