The Astronaut Wives Club
Watch The Astronaut Wives Club series premiere live online ABC

After Mad Men, another historical drama incorporating the lifestyle, politics and culture of 60s America, premieres on 18 June. ABC's The Astronaut Wives Club focuses on seven women who were key players behind some of the biggest events in American history.

The upcoming series tells the true story of seven military wives who rocketed to fame when their husbands – Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schira, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton – were selected as members of Nasa's original Mercury programme.

The show's official synopsis reads, "As America's astronauts were launched on death-defying missions, the lives of their young wives were transformed, seemingly overnight, from military spouses to American royalty. As their celebrity rose, and tragedy began to touch their lives, they rallied together.

"Behind the camera [magazine shoots and fame], there was a lot of turmoil and inner conflict," actress Erin Cummings (Spartacus: Blood and Sand), who plays Marge Slayton on the show, reveals in TV Line's sneak peek.

Her co-star, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, who plays Betty Grissom added: "They didn't get along always or all agree with each other. But they certainly had a bond."

The series spans 1959 to 1971, incorporating Nasa footage, Life magazine profiles and writer Lily Koppel's 2013 best-selling novel The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story, on which the series is based, to recall the events of the era.

The show's executive producer Stephanie Savage told Observer, "What's so interesting about this is that we all think we know this story, but until now we haven't seen it from this angle."

"There were so many pressures on these women and it's important to remember that space travel wasn't what it is now, it really was all very experimental and things did go wrong; sometimes very wrong."

The Astronaut Wives Club premieres on Thursday 18 June, on ABC at 8pm ET/ 7pm CT.

You can click here or here to watch the premiere episode titled Launch, live stream online.