The veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski is in charge of the Shuttle Explorers STS-157 mission to repair of the Hubble Telescope by the rookie specialist Ryan Stone. Out of the blue, Houston control aborts the mission warning that a Russian missile hit a satellite, causing a chain reaction and now there is a storm of debris coming upon them. Soon they lose communication with the Mission Control in Houston. The debris strike the Explorer and Ryan is released from the shuttle and Kowalski is forced to bring her back to the shuttle. However, the Explorer is completely damaged and now their only chance to return to Earth is to reach another space station. But they are short of oxygen and fuel.