Whilst I don't think it's the best season (so far) and sure it's not the same as season 1 but I'm glad it's taking a different turn. It makes sense that the first few seasons were so heavily focused on the technicals of getting into space because that's exactly what would be happening in those decades. With a large colony on another planet, and regular space travel I'm not surprised we're seeing less about space accidents and space travel and more about colony justification and the why of it all, we've spent long enough on the how.
I will however be pretty miffed if there's not a decent amount of time dedicated to the landing and mission on Titan as no matter how safe space travel becomes, the unknown is still the unknown. But honestly I'm loving all the interplanetary politics. I think overall so far season 5 is pretty great and with the latest episode upping the ante I think we're seeing a great season arc overall.
I think star city is coming at a great time for fans who want to see more of the early days of space travel through a new lens but I wouldn't trade this mars plot for it.