In the late 1950s, at the dawn of the Space Age, a team of Air Force pilots is poised to become the first Americans in space. However, their dreams are abruptly grounded when NASA is formed and astronauts are recruited from the civilian test pilot pool, rendering the team's aspirations moot. Decades later, a Russian communications satellite is malfunctioning and threatening to crash back to Earth, posing a potential disaster. The satellite's antiquated guidance system, similar to the technology the team was adept in during their prime, becomes the unexpected ticket to a mission they never had the chance to undertake.

Summoned from retirement, the original team members, now grizzled and well past their physical primes, are given the task of fixing the satellite. The government wants to harness their unique expertise in the old technology to avert the crisis. They undergo a series of comedic and challenging hurdles to prove they are fit for the mission, dealing with the skepticism of the current NASA personnel and the physical demands required for space travel. As they train for the mission, the team members confront their pasts, mend old rifts, and rediscover the camaraderie and spirit that once made them pioneers. Meanwhile, personal dynamics and the ghosts of what could have been loom large, offering them an unprecedented second chance not just in space, but in life.