In the US, this was distributed in an edited and English- dubbed version as "First Spaceship on Venus" through Crown International. It was at the top of a prepackaged double feature with Varan the Unbelievable (1962). It became Crown's most successful double feature since, unlike other Crown releases, it was booked into many theaters as well as drive-ins.
Meant to be a high-profile release by DEFA for the tenth anniversary of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
The German version contains a reference to one of the professors having his career stalled when he was thrown out of the university by the Nazis. Director and co-writer Kurt Maetzig had his career stalled by the Nazis because his mother was Jewish.
Although it was a co-production with a Polish company, it was still the most expensive production for DEFA up to that time.
The writing process involved three writing teams and 12 screenplays before a final script was acceptable to the studio and the government.