When is Star Trek: Starfleet Academy set? Timeline explained

As the latest Star Trek entry, Starfleet Academy, beams onto streaming service Paramount+, fans could certainly be forgiven for being confused about where it sits in the current timeline of the beloved, long-running sci-fi franchise.

2017's Star Trek: Discovery kicked off a whole new era for Trek, with Paramount significantly expanding the existing canon.

Since then, we’ve had a variety of instalments, ranging from an animated comedy and an animated children’s show to prequels, legacy sequels, and even a made-for-streaming movie.

But with franchise captain Alex Kurtzman behind so many different projects, it’s easy to be left baffled by the continuity puzzle of the Star Trek timeline.

Need a hand? Here's where Starfleet Academy fits on the current Star Trek.

When is Star Trek: Starfleet Academy set?

The ninth(!) live-action series centres on the newly reopened Starfleet Academy in San Francisco and is set in the 32nd Century, an era where no storyteller has gone before.

Therefore, the series takes place over 800 years after the events of the much loved Roddenberry/Berman Era wave, including The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.

Starfleet Academy is for all intents and purposes a direct Star Trek: Discovery spinoff, complete with significant legacy characters such as Mary Wiseman’s Sylvia Tilly and Tig Notaro’s Jett Reno returning, along with Oded Fehr’s 32nd-century Admiral, Charles Vance.

Opening with an explanation of the galaxy wide cataclysmic event known as ‘the Burn’ in which the Federation and Starfleet almost didn’t survive, the series focuses on the rebuilding of Starfleet in the far flung future with a whole new generation.

Where does Starfleet Academy sit in the Star Trek timeline?

Here’s where Starfleet Academy sits on the Star Trek timeline:

• 2151 to 2161: Enterprise
• 2256 to 2258: Discovery (seasons 1-2)
• 2259 onwards: Strange New Worlds
• 2265 to 2269: Star Trek TOS
• 2324: Section 31
• 2364 to 2370: The Next Generation
• 2369 to 2375: Deep Space Nine
• 2371 to 2378: Voyager
• 2380 to 2382: Lower Decks
• 2383: Prodigy
• 2399 to 2401: Picard
• 3191: Starfleet Academy*
• 3188 to 3191 onwards: Discovery (seasons 3-5) - plus throw in the 20-30 year time skip in the season finale epilogue

*Starfleet Academy opens with a prologue set at stardate 853724.6, roughly placing it in 3176. The series then jumps ahead around fifteen years to 3191, aligning it with the events of Discovery season 5.

Why is Starfleet Academy set so far in the future?

Continuing in this far-flung ‘Discovery’ era, Star Trek head honcho Alex Kurtzman has chosen the 32nd era as a prime time for exploration, with undoubtedly plenty of futuristic new life and species to seek out – boldly going where only Discovery has (briefly) gone before, with the shadow of the cataclysmic event known as "the Burn" still hanging over the series.

The newly established branch of Starfleet Academy directly ties into the 'Modern Trek' flagship series, as revealed in the emotional Discovery season 5 epilogue. The finale introduces Leto Burnham-Booker – the son of Michael Burnham and Cleveland "Book" Booker – as a young Starfleet Captain.

This reveal, along with the confirmation that Burnham’s colleagues, including Sylvia Tilly, have gone on to help the newly flourishing school, continues his mother's legacy. A brand new generation is now hoping to replicate the success and spirit of the Federation’s former heroes in an uncertain future.

This setting bridges the gap between beloved former shows such as Voyager - complete with Robert Picardo’s holographic Doctor in tow - and a future-facing first class of cadets, marking the return of Starfleet training after more than a century.

Executive producer Kurtzman has also spoken about his personal reasons for focusing on a younger set of cadets, telling the LA Times about his connection to his 17-year-old son.

"I see what my son is feeling as he looks at the world and to his future. I see the uncertainty; I see all the things we took for granted as given are not certainties for him.

"I see him recognising he’s inheriting an enormous mess to clean up and it’s going to be on his generation to figure out how to do that, and that’s a lot to ask of a kid. My thinking was, if we set Starfleet Academy in the halcyon days of the Federation where everything was fine, it’s not going to speak to what kids are going through right now."

The setting also serves as a welcome callback to previous shows and films, with Starfleet Academy featuring prominently throughout the franchise. It has appeared in several episodes of The Next Generation - most notably the Wesley Crusher-centric The First Duty - as well as in Deep Space Nine and the 2009 Star Trek film. After all, who could forget Kirk cheating the Kobayashi Maru test?

Whether Starfleet Academy sparks a love of Star Trek in the next generation is yet to be seen, but class is officially back in session.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is coming to Paramount+ on 15th January.

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