Star Trek fans can look forward to the resumption of Star Trek‘s future progress on January 15, 2026, thanks to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Star Trek enters its 60th year in 2026, and the venerable sci-fi franchise created by Gene Roddenberry remains an optimistic force that’s unique in pop culture.

Star Trek on Paramount+ feels like it’s been on a downswing since 2022, when there were five new Star Trek series, and a new episode of Star Trek streamed on the service every Thursday for almost the entire year.

2023 was also a triumphant year for Star Trek thanks to the acclaimed Star Trek: Picard season 3 and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, both of which were smash hits with critics and audiences.

Star Trek‘s newfound renaissance didn’t last, tragically. In 2024, Paramount+ ended Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks after five seasons each. Meanwhile, Star Trek: Prodigy‘s jump to Netflix was a short-lived triumph since the biggest streamer in the world didn’t order another season.

2025 also hasn’t been the rebound Star Trek fans hoped for, as both Star Trek: Section 31 and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 ended up underwhelming the franchise’s core audience.

However, Star Trek fans have ample reasons to look forward to Star Trek‘s 60th anniversary year, and the good times to come kick off on January 15, 2026.

January 15, 2026 Is Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s Premiere

Star Trek‘s 60th anniversary year kicks off with two significant events: a Star Trek Rose Parade float on New Year’s Day, followed by the two-episode premiere of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 on Paramount+ on January 15, 2026.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy arrives with a lot of firepower in the USS Athena’s phaser banks. Executive produced by Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, Starfleet Academy is led by A-list movie stars, Academy Award-winner Holly Hunter and Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy‘s trailer shows a conflict between Hunter’s Captain Nahla Ake and Giamatti’s Klingon-Tellarite villain, Nus Braka, to decide the future of the Academy’s newest cadet, Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta).

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 consists of 10 episodes, with a new episode premiering on Paramount+ every Thursday until Starfleet Academy season 1’s finale on March 12. Meanwhile, production on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2 is underway.

Among the most exciting aspects of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, like a major role for The Doctor (Robert Picardo), is that the spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery finally continues the forward progress of Star Trek‘s thousand-year timeline.

Set in the last decade of the 32nd century, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy becomes the farthest continuous point of Star Trek‘s timeline. Finally, Star Trek is moving forward once more, thanks to Starfleet Academy charting the franchise’s distant future with hope and optimism.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Also Premieres In 2026

Star Trek‘s 60th anniversary celebration continues in 2026 with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, which is still awaiting its official premiere date on Paramount+.

Thanks to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4’s early renewal, production commenced during spring and summer 2025, and filming wrapped in July while Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 was streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 is the last season that will consist of 10 episodes, unfortunately, but this helps make season 4 even more special. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 5, which is filming now, will only be 6 episodes.

At New York Comic Con, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 premiered new footage, showing the Starship Enterprise mysteriously waylaid by a stellar storm. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and his crew must solve this crisis by exploring a strange new world.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 will also contain the genre explorations and creative “big swings” that have become a hallmark of the prequel series, including an episode where Captain Pike and the Enterprise crew are turned into puppets.

As the popular Star Trek series set aboard the USS Enterprise with Spock (Ethan Peck), James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Scotty (Martin Quinn), and other icons, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is crucial to Star Trek‘s 60th anniversary celebrations.

Star Trek Is Stronger For Its 60th Anniversary Than It Was For Its 50th

With two Star Trek TV series on Paramount+ totaling 20 new hours of Star Trek, plus a new wave of licenses and partnerships for Star Trek, including with LEGO, Star Trek will be much stronger and more vital in year 60 than it was during its 50th anniversary in 2016.

Ten years ago, Star Trek Beyond was only major Star Trek project to celebrate Star Trek‘s 50th milestone. Unfortunately, Star Trek Beyond underperformed at the box office relative to its J.J. Abrams-directed predecessors, and Star Trek Beyond turned out to be the last Star Trek theatrical movie for the next decade and counting.

Star Trek TV was also still dormant in 2016, after Star Trek: Enterprise’s cancelation in 2005 meant there were no new Star Trek episodes produced for a dozen years. However, in 2016, Star Trek: Discovery began development under its creator and original showrunner, Bryan Fuller.

With new management overseeing Star Trek‘s parent company, Paramount Skydance, hopes are high that promises to prioritize Star Trek streaming TV shows and theatrical movies will be fulfilled. 2026 may see the announcement of new Star Trek that will define the next phase of the franchise after 2027.

Star Trek‘s future truly kicks off in January when Star Trek: Starfleet Academy begins, and there are ample reasons for fans to keep faith (of the heart) about what’s next in the final frontier.