For years, the USS Enterprise has been adrift, its warp engines sputtering as plans for a new big-screen voyage repeatedly stalled. But at the SXSW this month, a top executive from the franchise’s custodians offered a glimmer of hope to long-suffering Trekkers: There is, in fact, a plan to launch another Star Trek film “in the very near future.”

The optimistic update came from Trevor Roth, the chief operating officer of Roddenberry Entertainment, the company founded by the family of Star Trek‘s legendary creator Gene Roddenberry. Speaking on a festival panel, Roth acknowledged that practicalities often torpedo even the noblest of intentions in Hollywood. But he insisted that Paramount Pictures, which controls the film rights, recognizes “the need and want” for another theatrical Star Trek release.

“I am not able to say much, but I can say that it is Paramount’s intent to figure out the Star Trek side of movies and what’s going on there,” Roth told the audience, as reported by Screen Rant. “There’s every intent of a new movie coming out in the very near future.”

He continued: “There’s a lot of secrecy around what’s going to happen there. But there is a plan getting into place. And we’re very excited to see it return to the big screen.”

The fabled next installment, unofficially dubbed Star Trek 4, has been eternally “getting there,” to borrow Roth’s words. It has remained locked in development purgatory despite the reasonable box office success of the three previous films in the rebooted universe kickstarted by J.J. Abrams in 2009.

Those movies — Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016) — returned the franchise to planet-hopping space adventures with a new, younger cast led by Chris Pine as the brash Capt. James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as his cerebral second-in-command, Spock. The actors’ robust chemistry and the films’ mostly positive reviews stoked hopes that their cinematic voyages would continue undisrupted.

But the inertia has been difficult to overcome. Shortly after Beyond‘s release, Paramount began hiring writers to craft ideas for a follow-up movie. One concept, ultimately scrapped, would have involved bringing back Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk, father to Pine’s character, by way of a time travel plot.

The project has remained stuck in this speculative script stage, with the latest development setback surfacing in December: Writer Lindsey Beer is no longer involved, according to her social media accounts.

Roth, at least, sounded optimistic that a firm trajectory will materialize. He added a caveat, though, that outside forces can scuttle even the most meticulously calculated flight plans.

“And I will tell you that you want to do it the right way,” Roth said. “And yet, practical things get in [the way]…sometimes there’s a lot you don’t know that is happening behind the scenes that can make things more difficult than you would think.”

For Michael Burnams, Phillippa Georgious and other faithful Star Trek fans who have patiently awaited the franchise’s theatrical return, that candid assessment may as well apply to their hopes for the USS Enterprise’s imminent relaunch. The intent is there, and the preparations are underway — but will the stars ultimately align for a new voyage? Or will this planned expedition remain stuck in the fictional realm of sci-fi limbo?

Roth did not specify precisely what qualifies as the “very near future” — a hint, perhaps, at the true duration required for Paramount to solve the cosmic riddles keeping the franchise grounded.