‘Starfleet Academy’ To End With Season 2, But Paramount Confirms Commitment To Star Trek – TrekMovie.com
Coming on the heels of the first season finale of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is news that the show will wrap up with its second season, which completed production in February. We have official comments on the end of the series as well as a letter from the showrunners to the team that worked on the show.
SFA to end with S2
First reported by Variety, TrekMovie has confirmed that Paramount has chosen not to pick up Starfleet Academy for a third season. Here is the official statement from CBS Studios and Paramount+ on ending the series:
We’re incredibly proud of the ambition, passion, and creativity that went into bringing Star Trek: Starfleet Academy to life. The series introduced audiences to a bold new group of characters, welcomed familiar faces, and expanded the Star Trek universe in exciting new ways.
We’re grateful to Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau, Gaia Violo, and the entire cast and crew who pushed storytelling boundaries in the spirit of Gene Roddenberry’s vision. We look forward to sharing the upcoming second and final season with everyone, and continuing to celebrate.
Since the early years of the streaming era of Star Trek under Alex Kurtzman, a show set at Star Trek’s famous Starfleet Academy had been in development, originally being helmed by The OC’s Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. After passing on that original pitch, in 2023 Paramount gave a greenlight to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, from creator Gaia Violo, who went on to be an executive producer and writer for the series, with Alex Kurtman and Noga Landau as showrunners.
Starfleet Academy launched in January to good media reviews, but the more YA-oriented show had a mixed reception from fans. In addition, it became a political topic, primarily due to the diversity of the cast. Perhaps more importantly to Paramount+, the show has failed to hit the Nielsen streaming top 10, unlike all the other other live-action Star Trek shows. A Paramount source tells TrekMovie “While we loved the creative and performances, it’s not a secret that the series did not chart on Nielsen’s top 10.”
L-R: Sandro Rosta as Caleb and Holly Hunter as Captain Nahla Ake in season 1, episode 10, of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Michael Gibson/Paramount+
Letter from Alex and Noga
Paramount has provided us with the letter that executive producers and showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau sent out to everyone who worked on the show. Here it is in full:
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.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 06: Jane Wiseman, Gaia Violo, Noga Landau, Trevor Roth, Chris Parnell, Alex Kurtzman, Tawny Newsome, Robert Picardo, Becky Lynch, Bella Shepard, Karim Diane, Holly Hunter, Raoul Bhaneja, Olatunde Osunsanmi, George Hawkins, George Cheeks, Sandro Rosta, David Stapf, Aaron Baiers, Gina Yashere, Zoe Steiner, Mary Wiseman, Tig Notaro, Paul Giamatti and Kerrice Brooks attend the world premiere of Starfleet Academy at American Museum of Natural History on January 06, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Paramount+)
SFA Ending with cliffhanger
TrekMovie first broke the news that the second season of the series was not written to work as a potential series finale. This was a bit risky coming after the Skydance takeover of Paramount and with the show’s future uncertain. Noga Landau explained to TrekMovie:
“It is a cliffhanger at the end of season 2… Honestly it’s because we listened to what our story wanted to be, and we went with it. We wrote it the way that it felt organic and natural. And I hope we get to keep making many more seasons of Starfleet Academy, because we have a lot more story to tell.”
It’s possible that Alex Kurtzman will try to get approval for the filming of a “coda” to add to the season 2 finale, just as they did for Star Trek: Discovery. After that show was cancelled following filming of its fifth season, a 15-minute segment was filmed that helped turn the season 5 finale into a series finale.
The Starfleet Academy showrunners have also teased how the second season will feature a new and different kind of villain, along with “big concepts.” Paramount has not set a release date yet, but the second season of Starfleet Academy is expected to arrive in 2027. There are also two seasons left of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – a 10-episode fourth season and 6-episode fifth and final season that were shot in Toronto in 2025. Season 5 is expected this summer, with the final season likely arriving around mid 2027.
L-R: Holly Hunter as Captain Nahla Ake, Robert Picardo as The Doctor, and Tig Notaro as Reno in season 1, episode 9, of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Michael Gibson/Paramount+
Kurtzman still talking about Trek TV future
As TrekMovie noted recently, with last month’s completion of filming for second season of Starfleet Academy, there are currently no Star Trek TV shows in production or ordered. Now with Starfleet Academy ending its run with season 2, Paramount has no announced Star Trek TV to take it beyond 2027.
We have been reporting about how 2026 is a pivot point for Star Trek, especially Trek TV. Alex Kurtzman’s contract to oversee the television franchise runs through the end of this year. Earlier this month, Kurtzman told TrekMovie talks with CBS Studios and Paramount about his future with Star Trek had just started. He noted at the time that with the recent deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (which would see the streaming service merger of Paramount+ and HBO Max) “everything is just happening slower as a result of this massive time of transition.” And according to today’s report in Variety, those talks are still ongoing.
Paramount “committed” to Trek, developing multiple films
Variety’s report also includes a source saying, “Paramount is said to remain very high on the “Star Trek” IP.” And A Paramount insider tells TrekMovie, “Paramount Pictures remains in early development on Star Trek film projects,” notably plural film projects. The only known Star Trek project in active development is a new feature film from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.
That same Paramount insider tells TrekMovie, the company “remains committed to Star Trek, one of the most storied and beloved franchises in the universe.”
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
