Two centuries from now, Mormon missionaries won’t just be going door to door, they’ll be going from planetoid to planetoid. That’s what happens in the futuristic new Syfy series “The Expanse,” which includes a subplot that harks back to LDS Church history. It premieres Tuesday at 10 on the SyFy Channel.

Syfy president Dave Howe describes “The Expanse” as the channel’s “most ambitious series to date.” In terms of the look and the scope, it’s certainly the most ambitious since “Battlestar Galactica,” which ended its run six years ago — and was the last series on the science-fiction channel to be set primarily in outer space.

Set 200 years in the future, “The Expanse” takes place in a time when man has colonized the solar system. Earth controls the moon; Mars is an independent military power; both rely on the resources from the asteroid belt — where humans have been born, grown old and died without ever living in Earth-like gravity.

Tensions between Earth and Mars are high; the Belters — represented by the OPA (Outer Planetary Association) — want their independence; war looms; and at least one group is trying to spark a conflagration. The story, based on the novels by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (under the pen name James S.A. Corey), surrounds a hard-boiled detective’s (Thomas Jane, “Hung”) search for a missing woman, a rogue ship’s captain (Steven Strait, “Magic City”) and a massive conspiracy.

“One of the themes we have at the heart of the show is this sense that the same quality that enables human beings to conquer space — to do great, great things — those are the same qualities that cause us to fight and cause us to wage war,” said executive producer Naren Shankar (“CSI,” “Farscape,” “Grimm”). “Think of it as humanity at another one of those points where it’s a powder keg just waiting for a spark to happen, and then lots of bad things will happen after that.”

And in the middle of this are … Mormons. A few members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at least.

There are no identifiable Mormons in the first two episodes, but a missionary (Daniel Krantz) — complete with white shirt, tie and name badge — shows up in Episode 3 on a station on the planetoid Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. (His hair is a bit long by current missionary standards, however, and he doesn’t seem to have a companion.)

The elder tries a novel approach on Detective Miller (Jane) and his partner (Jay Hernandez).

“Excuse me, sir. Do you like to laugh?” the missionary says. “I know what you’re thinking — Mormons aren’t funny. But we have a comedy night at the Laugh Shop once a week, and I’d love to prove you wrong. Can I put your name on the list tonight?”

It’s amusing and seemingly random. But it’s not so random, after all.

In Episode 4, we meet an unnamed Mormon official (Peter Spence) and learn that the church is having a huge ship built that will take members to a planet that’s orbiting a distant star.

In the books, the 23rd-century LDS leaders wish to escape persecution and find a place where they can live their religion … which is, of course, how Utah was settled.

The ship is named the Nauvoo, after the city in Illinois that the Mormons fled as they began their trek to what is now Utah. Work is progressing on the Nauvoo, but the church official is there to replace project supervisor Col. Frederick Lucius Johnson (Chad L. Coleman).

“Your ties to the OPA have been making a number of elders and the general authorities uncomfortable,” the LDS official says.

Johnson defends the OPA and points out, “The history of organized religion isn’t exactly strife-free.” He also offers up a threat, suggesting that if he goes, the more skilled workers will go with him.

“You’re about to send your best and brightest Mormons on a hundred-year voyage to a new world around a new sun,” Johnson says. “Who knows what tragic malfunctions might occur along the way?”

It’s a seemingly minor plot point, but it’s clearly going to progress in future episodes. And there just might be a lot of future episodes.

While “The Expanse” is being billed as a 10-part event, Syfy is hoping to turn it into a continuing series. There’s certainly plenty of material — to date, five novels, two short stories and two “Expanse” novellas have been published, and there are plans for four more novels and three more novellas.