The Gateway Space Station, is the international stepping stone to the moon, Mars and beyond. It is seized by a renegade group of Russian trained cosmonauts led by war hero and Tajikstan nationalist, Previ Federov (Zagarino). The rebels demand Russian troops be withdrawn from war-torn Tajikstan or they will activate a forgotten relic of the Soviet Unions Cold War arsenal: the Neblist Space Weapons System, a web of 87 nuclear satellites orbiting Earth.
As the situation races out of control, NASA pulls ace astronaut J.J Hendriks out of early retirement. His mission is to pilot the untested X-33 single stage to orbit space plane and deliver a team of US Rangers to Gateway. They have to stop the madman dead in his tracks and prevent the nuclear Armageddon.