"Star Trek: Discovery" has finally ended its groundbreaking run after five seasons to usher in the streaming age of Gene Roddenberry's baby. Keeping the creative energies burning, the next high-flying Trek project, "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy," is set for release in early 2026.
This young adult-aimed series is set in the 32nd century at Starfleet's reopened San Francisco university campus by the San Francisco Bay. "Starfleet Academy" arrives in early 2026 and follows a fresh class of young cadets through their trials and tribulations as students at the academy.
Before the bell rings, let's warp into everything we know about "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" and its newest class of promising candidates that will someday join the Federation as part of its intrepid peacekeeping armada to reignite the spirit of intergalactic discovery. Take your seat and let's dive straight in!
STARFLEET ACADEMY RELEASE DATE
We still don't have an exact release date for "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy", but the teaser trailer revealed at San Diego Comic Con has at least confirmed that it will launch in early 2026.
When it does release, "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" will stream exclusively on Paramount+.
If you want to check out Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (or any of the other great shows on Paramount+) while you're abroad, you can also use a VPN to access your subscription from anywhere in the world. For a limited time, you can save up to 76% on 24 months of NordVPN (+4 free months extra) and get a $50 Amazon voucher ahead of Prime Day.
STARFLEET ACADEMY PLOT
"Starfleet Academy" takes place mainly in San Francisco of the 32nd century at the end of a period known as The Burn, when nearly all of the galaxy's precious supply of dilithium, a material which is required for warp drives, had been rendered inert.
In "Star Trek: Discovery" Season 3, Michael Burnham and her crew swept in to aid in stopping the crystal crisis, heralding a new era of cosmic exploration. This end to the severe restrictions of faster-than-light space travel results in a fresh beginning for both the Federation and Starfleet.
This series will explore the academic incubator for this next generation of starship captains, commanders, pilots, navigators, science officers, and engineers in a higher education environment that will delve into themes of friendship, romance, peer pressure, rivalries, and enlightenment as they strive to make the grade under the watchful guidance of their professors and instructors.
"My thinking was, if we set 'Starfleet Academy' in the halcyon days of the Federation, where everything was fine, it's not going to speak to what kids are going through right now," Kurtzman explained in a May 30, 2024, interview with the LA Times.
"It'll be a nice fantasy, but it's not really going to be authentic. What'll be authentic is to set it in the timeline where this is the first class back after over 100 years, and they are coming into a world that is only beginning to recover from a cataclysm — which was the Burn, as established on "Star Trek: Discovery," where the Federation was greatly diminished. So they’re the first who’ll inherit, who’ll re-inherit, the task of exploration as a primary goal, because there just wasn’t room for that during the Burn — everybody was playing defense. It's an incredibly optimistic show, an incredibly fun show; it's a very funny show, and it's a very emotional show. I think these kids, in different ways, are going to represent what a lot of kids are feeling now.”
The show was filmed in 2024 at Pinewood Studios Toronto, with the production being slated to showcase the most enormous set ever created for any "Star Trek" show.
Its design will incorporate a central two-story academic atrium, an elaborate amphitheater, classrooms for the brightest astrophysics minds, a huge mess hall, and a pedestrian walkway flanked by trees..
STARFLEET ACADEMY SEASON 1 EPISODES
Starfleet Academy follows the same 10-episode format of other Paramount+ Star Trek series. We don't have a full episode list at this time, but when we know, you'll know.
STARFLEET ACADEMY CAST
With the reveal of the first teaser trailer, we finally know a lot more about the cast of "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy".
Academy Award-winning actress Holly Hunter will take on the role of Captain Nahla Ake, the first chancellor of the academy since its reformation after 120 years of neglect in the post-Burn world of "Star Trek: Discovery."
Alongside Hunter, the ensemble cast also includes Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir, Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag, Kerrice Brooks as Sam, George Hawkins as Darem Reymi, and Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe.
The biggest news in the casting cycle for Star Trek fans is the return of Robert Picardo, seemingly reprising his role as The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager. We don't know the size and scope of this role yet, but it's great to see him back regardless.
We can also expect some exciting guest stars in season one, with Gina Yashere confirmed as Commander Lura Thok and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti stepping into the role of a Klingon/Tellarite hybrid named Nus Braka.
STARFLEET ACADEMY TRAILERS
We finally got our first look at Star Trek: Starfleet Academy at San Diego Comic Con 2025, with the exciting first teaser trailer. You can check out the trailer below:
STARFLEET ACADEMY DIRECTOR, WRITERS, AND CREW
Longtime "Star Trek" ringmaster Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau ("Nancy Drew") are acting as executive producers and share showrunning duties for "Starfleet Academy." CBS Studios is in charge of production in collaboration with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment, while Paramount Global Content Distribution maintains the series' distribution.
Additional executive producers include Gaia Violo, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa, and John Weber. Kurtzman is also signed on to direct the first two episodes, and Jonathan Frakes is rumored to direct as well. Gaia Violo wrote the series premiere episode.
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