Star Trek: Starfleet Academy: Everything We Know About Paramount+'s YA Star Trek Series

If you've been enjoying the wealth of Star Trek content that's been steadily popping up on Paramount+ over the past several years — Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, Picard, just to name a few — we've got some very good news: there's more coming! The next new Star Trek series is Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, a series that sat in development for several years before finally moving forward with a series order in 2023. And in a first for the franchise, it's going to boldly go where no Star Trek series has gone... into the YA-verse!

The next big Star Trek series draws closer by the day, and we know quite a lot about what to expect from it. Scroll on to see what we know so far.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premiere date

Starfleet Academy will have a two-episode premiere on Paramount+ on Jan. 15, 2026, with the remaining eight episodes dropping weekly thereafter until the finale on March 12. It will be the 13th Star Trek television series, and the first new series to premiere since Strange New Worlds in 2022.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy trailer

For a glimpse at what's in store in Season 1 of Starfleet Academy, including a bunch of very close shots of a sinister-looking Paul Giamatti in half-Klingon, half-Tellarite makeup and some teen smooches, check out the trailer.

Are there plans for more seasons of Starfleet Academy?

Yes! Starfleet Academy has already been renewed, and Season 2 is already in production. So you can enjoy Season 1 without worrying about the new series being canceled.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy storylines

The series will focus on a new class of Starfleet cadets in the 32nd Century being trained by Holly Hunter's Chancellor Nahla Ake aboard the USS Athena. So no need to worry about this being a show that's just about people sitting in classrooms — there will be adventures on Starfleet Academy. 

As we saw in the trailer, trainee Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) will be a major focus for the series; he's an orphan on a life-long quest to find his mom, and it seems as though Ake will give him some extra mentorship because of that — as both she and Paul Giamatti's villainous Nus Braka knew Caleb's mom (Tatiana Maslany) back in the day.

That 32nd Century setting, by the way, is at the very far end of the Trek timeline, as Discovery was the only previous Star Trek film or movie to go that deep into the future. Let's talk about that a little bit.

Starfleet Academy's connections to other Star Trek shows

While it shouldn't be considered a "sequel" to Star Trek: Discovery, Starfleet Academy will take place in the same time frame as that series — many centuries after the rest of the franchise — and will include some appearances by Discovery cast members, like Oded Fehr as Fleet Admiral Vance and Tig Notaro as engineer Jett Reno.

Starfleet Academy will have another, much more unusual connection to Trek's past, too, with Robert Picardo returning to the role of The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager. This time, he'll be a digital recreation of the character who helps teach the cadets. 

As for whether Starfleet Academy will follow up on any plot threads from Discovery, we don't know.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy cast and crew

Starfleet Academy is co-created by Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, with Holly Hunter in the lead role and Paul Giamatti as the main baddie. Check out the cast list below:

• Holly Hunter as Nahla Ake, the half-Lanthanite captain of the USS Athena and chancellor of Starfleet Academy
• Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir, a Starfleet cadet and orphan looking for his mother
• Paul Giamatti as Nus Braka, a part-Klingon and part-Tellarite villain
• Kerrice Brooks as SAM (Series Acclimation Mil), the first Kasqian (a type of hologram) to attend Starfleet Academy
• Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe, a Dar-Sha cadet and daughter of an admiral
• Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag, a Klingon aspiring to become a medical officer
• Zoe Steiner as Tarima Sadal, the daughter of the president of the planet Betazed
• George Hawkins as Darem Reymi, A Khionian cadet and aspiring captain
• Tig Notaro as Jett Reno, an engineer who previously appeared on Star Trek: Discovery
• Oded Fehr as Fleet Admiral Charles Vance, the commander-in-chief of Starfleet who previously appeared on Star Trek: Discovery
• Gina Yashere as cadet master Lura Thok, a part-Klingon, part-Jen'Hadar first officer of the Athena
• Tatiana Maslany as Caleb's missing mother
• Stephen Colbert as the voice of Starfleet Academy's Digital Dean
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor, a 900-year old hologram teacher at the Academy

Where to watch other Star Trek shows and movies

You can check out the entire Star Trek franchise on Paramount+.