OK, so you probably have heard that Stargate Atlantis isn’t going to be picked up for another year and you were probably just as sad as I was.  What will you do without some sort of Stargate fix?  It has been over 12 years that you have enjoyed some sort of Gate action.  Well don’t fret, if you haven’t heard yet, they are already working on the next Stargate spinoff, Stargate Universe.  Sounds pretty cool, sounds like a new younger direction.  Check some of the details from the official site after the jump.

With the concept green-lit for production, co-creators Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright are hard at work on fleshing out the series before it goes before the camera. There’s tons to do, but Cooper found enough time to give us an update on the exciting progress of Stargate Universe.

“We’re writing the premiere episode,” he confirms. “Brad and myself are spinning that story, and we’re coming up with new episodes for the first half of the season as well. We’re also in the preliminary casting process, and designing the sets and looking for key crew members – it’s full steam ahead right now. Our target is to start shooting early February and be on the air in July of ’09.”

Casting notes leaked online several weeks ago, revealing that the producers are looking for a core cast of six – four actors and two actresses – to launch the series. Though the team is lead by Colonel Everett Young, who is described as being in his forties, the rest of the characters – Tamara Jon, a field medic; Chloe Carpenter, daughter of a US senator; Eli Hitchcock, mathematical genius; Jared Nash, a lieutenant at the SGC and Ron Stasiak, a US marine, are listed as being in their twenties. Some fans have queried the wisdom of having such young characters, but Cooper points to the youth of Stargate SG-1‘s cast when it launched.