The New Term Begins in Our Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Premiere Episodes Preview
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Phil Roberts 
The first crop of cadets enrolled at the new Starfleet Academy boldly go where no one has gone before in the official image gallery from Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Season 1, Episodes 1 and 2.
We are just days away from the premiere episodes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season One, and the hype is building. The first cadets enrolled at Starfleet Academy in San Francisco in over a century are ready to take their first steps into a larger world, and their new mentor, Chancellor Nahla Ake, is ready to put them through their paces. However, there has been some unusual activity reported along the Neutral Zone. So, let’s get the latest intel from Starfleet Command and dive into this newly minted series.
An encoded message from Deep Space Five has alerted us to a ripple in the future timeline. It reveals that the new cadets are in for more than they bargained for, and for 21-year-old Caleb, the ghosts of his childhood are about to return. So will his career in Starfleet be derailed before it starts? It sounds like the debut season is going to be a rollercoaster ride of intrigue and scandal. But fear not, cadets. We have a bunch of new episode stills and synopses to share. So grab your Tricorders and set a course for the huge double bill. Maximum warp!
KIDS THESE DAYS
Both “Kids These Days” and “Beta Test” are directed by Alex Kurtzman, who leads the Star Trek franchise, and written by Gaia Violo, together with Noga Landau and Jane Maggs.
Synopsis: After being on the run since age 6, 21-year-old Caleb, a brilliant street kid, is offered the chance of a lifetime: to join the first new Starfleet Academy class in San Francisco in over a century. There’s just one problem – the person offering him the spot is newly-minted Chancellor Nahla Ake, the Starfleet captain who sentenced his mother to Federation prison 15 years ago…
BETA TEST
Synopsis: With the start of the new academic year, Caleb’s unease about his future at Starfleet Academy persists. But when a delegation from a former Federation ally arrives and Caleb is tasked with showing their leader’s daughter around campus, he must put his uncertainty aside to discover what life at the Academy is really about.
RELEASE
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy stars Holly Hunter as Nahla Ake, captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy. The series also features Sandro Rosta, Karim Diané, Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins, Bella Shepard, and Zoë Steiner. The cast is rounded out by Tig Notaro as Jett Reno and Robert Picardo reprising the Doctor, with guest appearances from Oded Fehr as Admiral Vance and Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly, and recurring roles for Gina Yashere and Paul Giamatti.
Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau serve as co-showrunners and executive produce the series alongside executive producers Gaia Violo, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa and John Weber. The series’ premiere episode is written by Gaia Violo and directed by Alex Kurtzman. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will be available to stream exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the U.K., Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Japan. The series is also available on Paramount+ in Canada. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
NEW EPISODES STREAMING
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premieres on Paramount+ on January 15, 2026, with new episodes releasing weekly through March 12. Check back next week for our preview of episode three. You’ll never miss a thing with Future of the Force.
Meet Phil Roberts! He’s the dedicated owner, daily content manager, and editor-in-chief of The Future of the Force. Phil is a budding novelist who turned his passion toward writing about the franchises he loves back in 2016. He’s a huge fan of all things Star Wars, Batman, DC, Marvel, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, King Kong, and the Ray Harryhausen movies. Phil is a BFI-accredited journalist and a distinguished member of the Film Critics Association UK.
If he’s not catching a movie at the cinema, you can bet he’s streaming something just as awesome!
