Once the upcoming fourth and last season of “Battlestar Galactica” runs its course, fans can look forward to a prequel series set 50 years before the events currently unfolding on the Sci Fi Channel, the cable channel has announced.

The Sci-Fi Channel has ordered a two-hour pilot for “Caprica,” a prequel series set 50 years before “Battlestar.” It will be produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, the producers of “Battlestar.” The announcement was made Tuesday, during an upfront presentation to advertisers in New York.

“We couldn't be more excited to see this long-anticipated project get off the ground,” Mark Stern, Sci Fi’s executive VP of programming, said Tuesday.

Production on the pilot is scheduled for this spring. Casting has not been announced yet.

“I think the series works best as an ensemble TV drama. If it translated into a feature it would be a different animal,” Moore said of the upcoming series, as quoted by the Hollywood Reporter.

Eick said in a statement that “Caprica” will have “its own personality” and promised that it would push the boundaries just as “Battlestar” has done. “While ‘Caprica’ will have its own personality, it will carry on ‘Battlestar’s’ commitment to pushing the boundaries of the genre. We're thrilled that Sci-Fi has seen fit to giving us another opportunity to tell character-driven stories in challenging ways.”

As to the fourth and last season of “Battlestar,” Moore said the remaining 20 episodes would answer all questions left unanswered and clear up ambiguities.

There are no plans for a movie adaptation of the series and Moore said the fourth season would bring a satisfactory ending to the storyline. Moore, Eick and the “Battlestar” cast would offer no details regarding the plot for the upcoming season.

“Battlestar Galactica” first aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland in October 2004 and then in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel, starting with January 2005. The series has received vast appreciation from critics, as well as Emmy, Peabody, Hugo, and Saturn awards. The fourth season will start airing beginning April 4.