That’s the end of the line for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy! Variety has confirmed that the second season of Paramount+’s Starfleet Academy will be the show’s last. The second season has only recently finished filming, just before the first season finished its run on Paramount+. Across its 10-episode first season, it has failed to rank on the Nielsen Top 10 streaming viewership charts. However, the first season did reach a critical approval rating.
The Academy series has long been a project whispered in the production circles of Star Trek development. In fact, the idea of a series predates the Alex Kurtzman era of the Star Trek Universe. However, the series was brought to life by Kurtzman, Gaia Violo and Noga Landau for Paramount+. As the 12th Star Trek series, Starfleet Academy was officially confirmed in development in early 2022. Paramount+ officially announced the series in March 2023, with the second being announced in October 2024.
Today, this all comes to an end.
Goodbye to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
The acquisition of Paramount by Skydance Media raised questions about the future of the Star Trek Universe beyond 2027. Fans always knew this new business arrangement could mean a shake-up to the Star Trek Universe, and this looks to be the case. As with sales and business dealings like this, there is always someone wanting to do something new. CEO David Ellison has already stated that Star Trek is a “top priority” for Paramount-Skydance, with a new Star Trek movie already in development.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has finished filming the second season. However, will it actually see the light of day? While work is still to be done on the post-production side of things, it is not unheard of for Paramount – and other studios – to never air cancelled projects. Let’s not forget that something similar happened with the animated series of Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2. This was cancelled, then mysteriously ended up on FranceTV as part of a license deal. Later, the season would come to Netflix for English-speaking fans.
Alex Kurtzman’s own Star Trek future hangs in the balance. He’s been the steward of the modern Star Trek run for around a decade now. However, his deal with Paramount and CBS expires in 2026. Variety states that, according to an “Individual” with knowledge of the situation, Kurtzman and CBS Studios are currently in talks for a new deal that will keep him “in the CBS fold”. This might mean he keeps his reign on the Star Trek Universe for a little bit longer. We’ll need to wait and see.
Alex Kurtzman’s Letter to Star Trek Fans
Below you can read Showrunner and Head of Star Trek, Alex Kurtzman’s letter to the Star Trek fandom:
Letter from Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau
It’s been my and Noga’s joy and privilege to help carry Gene Roddenberry’s extraordinary vision forward with Starfleet Academy, thanks to the hundreds of hardworking humans who pour every ounce of their talents into the work daily with imagination and reverence. We are in post-production now on what will be the second and final season. We’re so proud of what we’ve accomplished together on this show, and the world will get to see the work of these extraordinary artists when season two airs. We will finish strong.
Whether you’re working on Star Trek or part of the marvel that is Star Trek fandom — its very heart, soul, and conscience —the joy comes from adventuring across boundaries of time, space, and the humanly possible in service to Roddenberry’s transformative vision of the future. That incomparable vision was fueled by an inexhaustible optimism. Star Trek places its bet on the best in human nature. It dares to imagine a society of “infinite diversity in infinite combinations,” free of war, hate, poverty, disease, and repression, and dedicated to the spirit of scientific inquiry and respect for all life, whether carbon or silicon-based, green-skinned or blue.
But make no mistake: Gene Roddenberry wasn’t some starry-eyed dreamer. He was a decorated Army bomber pilot in the Pacific Theater. He had seen first-hand the grim consequences of the worst of human nature. And his vision of the future wasn’t just a promise of hope. It was also a warning. In a fraught, frightening time of intolerance and violence, Star Trek said: Look! We made it! But just barely. First, we had to put all those ancient scourges behind us. It said that what makes us glorious as a species, and gives us hope for the future and the galaxy is inextricably linked to what makes us dangerous to each other, to this one world we presently inhabit, and to ourselves. That dual message—of hope and of warning—isn’t just a pretty dream but a call to action, to think about who we are in a different way.
Please don’t take our word for it. Take Gene’s:
“Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms. […] If we cannot learn to actually enjoy those small differences, to take a positive delight in those small differences between our own kind, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity that is almost certainly out there.”
With enduring hope that his vision of the future is possible, for our children, their children, and every future cadet in Starfleet Academy:
Live Long and Prosper.
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