As we exclusively first reported back in October, the production team behind the upcoming series Star Trek: Picard were already hard at work at preparing for the expected second season of the show, and today it seems that the gears are already turning to prepare for filming.

While not officially announced by CBS Television Studios yet — that’s something don’t expect to see until after the January 23 debut of the Picard series, based upon past renewal announcements — newly-released figures from the California Film Commission reported by The hollywood Reporter today show that the predicted sophomore season of Star Trek: Picard has already been granted over $20 Million in tax credits to return to the state in 2020, a nearly 25% increase over the $15.6 Million awarded to the production for Season 1.

We’ll let you know when CBS makes its official announcement, but until then trade reports like The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline have taken this financial news as CBS’s decision to ‘make it so’ for another year of Picard.

In addition to this financial news, we also learned last week that Star Trek: Picard showrunner Michael Chabon — who of course has had a longstanding, celebrated career as a novelist prior to joining the franchise — will be transitioning away from the series sometime in 2020.

Signing a deal with CBS Television Studios to adapt his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay into a limited series for the studio, Chabon will continue to remain showrunner of Picard into at least the early part of Season 2 — as we’ve known for some time that scripting is already underway — until the time comes for him to move to this new project, so his influence is likely to be felt for much of the second wave of Picard episodes.

We’ll continue to bring you all the latest news on Star Trek: Picard — including the official announcement of a Season 2 renewal, when it comes — so keep your sensors locked to TrekCore!