Vanessa Kirby and Lewis Pullman are to lead the cast of sci-fi thriller The Spacesuit.

The pair have signed up to star in the movie that is being written and directed by Kitty Green.

The Spacesuit follows as astronaut (Kirby), who is forced to make an impossible decision when an incident with her co-pilot (Pullman) overshadows a mission in the days before lift-off, setting off a tense race against the clock.

HanWay Films are responsible for sales of the flick and noted how the movie comes "at a moment of renewed global focus on space exploration" following the recent Artemis II mission to the Moon.

The film will reunite Green with producers James Schamus and Scott Macaulay, with Joe Pirro, Rita Walsh and Kath Shelper also producing.

Vanessa and her sister Juliet Kirby are to executive produce The Spacesuit via their Aluna production company.

Australian filmmaker Green has previously helmed The Assistant and The Royal Hotel, both of which starred Julia Garner.

Gabrielle Stewart, CEO of HanWay Films, said: "We are thrilled to be working with Kitty Green again, whose genius is about to take on utterly relatable situations women face, give them true cinematic canvases and imbue them with unbearable tension to provoke bigger conversations and entertain.

"We cannot wait to be taken on this journey by Kitty with Vanessa Kirby and Lewis Pullman, and the excellent team she has gathered."

Vanessa, 38, played the pregnant Sue Storm/Invisible Woman in last year's Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flick The Fantastic Four: First Steps and revealed that she learned "so much about motherhood" through the role.

The Crown actress - who welcomed her first child with partner Paul Rabil last year - told Variety: "Yes, definitely. And it's a testament to [director] Matt Shakman's vision for her, and wanting to be faithful to the comics.

"It was such a pleasure to go back and read Sue from 1961. It always felt like, 'How can we be as true to what these incredible artists have imagined over the years?' She always felt like a total mixture of so many things: obviously, deeply maternal and deeply loving and incredibly steady, but also fierce.

"In a way, it taught me so much about motherhood, because that's what motherhood is. It's not a passive thing. To give birth, you have to be completely, totally fierce. I'm so happy that you feel that. That's so moving to me, and all I could have hoped for her."

Vanessa filmed scenes with real babies, and she "got really attached to them" despite the "challenges" of working with little ones.

The Mission: Impossible star said: "100 per cent of the film was shot with a real baby.

"Our lead baby, Ada, a little girl, was just heaven. We had lots of other babies who were acting with us and helping us. We got really attached to them, and they were so part of our journey. It almost became weird if they weren't there.

"Also, it's challenging. The speech that Sue has was a night shoot. It was really late and we were shooting in winter in London, and all the babies cried at exactly the same line. I thought, 'Am I delivering something so bad that they're crying at the same moment?' Babies are the most natural actors in the world."