It’s a bad news/good news situation. “Stargate Atlantis” has been canceled – fans of the series, will, however, get to see the series through to the end of its fifth season.

The good news? a new Stargate saga will begin with “Stargate: Universe,” premiering as a two-hour movie before taking over a summer slot in 2009.

According to Sci Fi president Dave Howe, “We’ve had great success with ‘Enterprise’ repeats on Monday night, and there’s an appetite for space opera as ‘Battlestar’ goes away. There’s an opportunity to keep the space opera as part of our programming strategy.”

The Hollywood Reporter provides this synopsis of “Stargate: Universe”

“‘Universe’ introduces a team of explorers who find an ancient unmanned ship called the Destiny. Unable to return to Earth, the crew must fend for themselves aboard the ship, which has a preprogramd mission taking them to the far reaches of the universe.”