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4[[quoteright:324:[[ComicBook/StarfleetAcademy https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/st_academy05_coversub.png]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:324:''[[Film/TheBreakfastClub "We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole diurnal cycle in lockdown for whatever it was we did wrong."]]'']]
6
7[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin An academy]]... for {{space cadet}}s! This is the place you go to learn how to become an AcePilot, a SpaceMarine, a [[SpacePolice Space Cop]] or CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth.
8
9Essentially the AcademyOfAdventure or MilitaryAcademy RecycledInSpace. It doesn't necessarily have to physically be ''in'' space. It may be on Earth, on a space station, on a spaceship, or on a planet in a distant galaxy. It is a good setting for a BootCampEpisode in a ScienceFiction series.
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11These are good settings for AnAesop about standard young adult themes (learning to take responsibility, learning about friendship and love, etc). The age of cadets in stories ranges from kids and young teens (which may give it overlap with wholesome BoardingSchool tropes) to older teens and young twenty-somethings (which makes romantic subplots and drunken mishaps more likely).
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13Even though in theory, the cadets are just training, there may be emergencies where they get out of the classroom and into more real-world adventures with spaceships and planetary landings. The space academy will likely recruit from across the globe and in some cases, they may have students from across the galaxy, so there may be RubberForeheadAliens.
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15In MilitaryScienceFiction space academies, there will be more focus on strategy, battle tactics and weapons. If it is a civil or scientific space academy, the subjects will be more focused on space travel, hard science (physics), and "soft sciences" that are helpful when meeting alien cultures (anthropology, sociology).
16----
17!!Examples
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19[[foldercontrol]]
20
21[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
22* The Military Junior Pre-Academy of ''Manga/MajesticPrince'' is a military school that trains DesignerBabies to be space pilots.
23* The setting of ''Manga/PilotCandidate''.
24* Liebe Delta from ''Anime/InfiniteRyvius'' is a space station where most of the cast are training to work in space. It's attacked and destroyed at the start of the show, leaving the students to escape in the eponymous ship.
25* ''Anime/StellviaOfTheUniverse'': Each of the five Foundations -- colossal space stations in Lagrange points around Earth, whose primary function is to shield the planet from a nearby supernova explosion, -- hosts a space academy, where students learn to pilot spacecraft, in addition to all the low-gravity science. The show is focused on Shima Katase, who is accepted into the Stellvia Foundation's academy in the first episode, and her space classmates and friends.
26* An occasional backdrop for ''Anime/TenchiMuyoGXP''.
27[[/folder]]
28
29[[folder:ComicBooks]]
30* The aptly titled ''Astronaut Academy'' series by Dave Roman.
31* ''ComicBook/CleopatraInSpace:'' Yasiro Academy, where children learn biology, alien languages, and combat training.
32[[/folder]]
33
34[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
35* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
36** The Jedi Temple, serving to train potential Jedi Knights. "Younglings" and "Padawan" not only learned to master the force, but also included flight lessons.
37** As seen in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', Luke Skywalker tried to recreate a Jedi academy, but it was short-lived due to the FaceHeelTurn of Ben Solo, who destroyed it, killed most of the students and became Kylo Ren.
38** The Imperial Academy; it trains TIE Fighter pilots. Luke wished to go there (the fact that Luke, who claims to hate the Empire, is planning to go there shows just how desperate he is to leave the desert world he grew up on), and Biggs actually trained there (then defected). ''[[Film/{{Solo}} Solo: A Star Wars Story]]'' reveals that Han Solo also trained there before getting kicked out and sent to the infantry. A DeletedScene shows Han crashing a TIE fighter, the very reason he was kicked out.
39** In the ExpandedUniverse, once the New Republic was set up, they had their version of the Academy.
40** Luke succeeded in recreating a Jedi academy and trained numerous young Jedi in the ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'' ExpandedUniverse. Most prominently featured in the ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'', the ''Literature/YoungJediKnights'' series and the ''VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga''.
41* ''Film/{{Spacecamp}}'' takes a far more fantastical, action- and romance-oriented turn on the RealLife version of Space Camp. The characters even manage to take a trip into space, courtesy of the RobotBuddy.
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Literature]]
45* The Battle School of ''Literature/EndersGame''. The ''Literature/FleetSchool'' spin-off series is focused on what happens to Battle School after the end of the war. It's renamed "Fleet School" and only children of IF parents are allowed to attend. Instead of war, children are taught to be future colony and expedition leaders, although it's noted a few times that the skillset isn't that much different.
46* Literature/CiaphasCain was taught how to be a commissar at the Schola Progenium, and later goes on to teach at one on Perlia (where he has a rather understandable HundredPercentHeroismRating after single handedly breaking the back of an Orc invasion there) after retiring.
47* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''[[Literature/SpaceCadetHeinlein Space Cadet]]'', the Solar System Patrol's main teaching school is located aboard the PRS ''James Randolph'', an old spaceship orbiting Earth. However, the Patrol believes that there is a branch of the Academy anywhere that there's a cadet, so cadets must keep up their studies even aboard Patrol ships in the farthest reaches of the Solar System. There's also a campus on Earth, "Hayworth Hall," which is a sort of "finishing school" that prepares senior cadets to become commissioned officers in the Patrol.
48* Saganami Island in the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series, where the officers of the Royal Manticoran Navy and some allied navies are trained, and where Honor herself was an instructor for a while. The Protectorate of Grayson also has a small one (Isaiah Mackenzie Naval Academy) -- though it ''being'' small, most midshipmen in the rapidly expanding GSN go to their ally Manticore's Saganami Island. Haven ''also'' has one, though all we know about it is that Thomas Theisman had the second-worst drunken night of his life there while in his third year[[note]]the worst was when ''[[AxeCrazy Cordelia Ransom]]'' knocked on his door[[/note]].
49* The Imperial Military Academy ("We don't march towards the future, we ''charge it.''") in the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga''.
50* ''Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark'' has the Baikonur Academy in Kazakhstan, which is the main example of the trope for the [[SpaceNavy United Space Forces]]. There are other schools, mainly for advanced education, such as the Navigator School for training astrogators. It's typically shown a little like a boot camp, so a DrillSergeantNasty is a must.
51* The Swordmasters of the Ginaz of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' have brutal academy where they train to become skilled not only in the sword but also tactics, military protocol, all weapons, political maneuvering, ship combat, and more. Duncan Idaho was Swordmaster for House Atreides.
52* ''Literature/SpaceAcademy'': The titular Academy is where all the future officers of the Community are trained. It has many campuses and students from all over the Spiral (Orion’s Arm). The branch that Vance attended had multiple environmental domes and was made inside an asteroid.
53[[/folder]]
54
55[[folder:Live Action TV]]
56* Any ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series will probably reference Starfleet Academy at some point (except ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', which takes place before the academy was founded), and it featured prominently in [[Film/StarTrek2009 the 2009 movie]]. Vulcans have their own with the Vulcan Science Academy, after which Vulcans typically apply to join the Vulcan Expeditionary Group. This became a point of contention between Spock and his father Sarek. Sarek wanted Spock to go to the Science Academy and then join the VEG. Spock chose to go to Starfleet Academy instead. [[spoiler:Even worse, Sarek was given a choice: either Spock or his adopted daughter Michael Burnham could join VEG. He chose Spock. Spock's refusal meant that Sarek's choice was pointless and that he failed Michael for nothing]].
57* Earthforce Academy in ''Series/BabylonFive''. It also included the "Air Dome", a premiere pilot training center and its Officer Training School.
58* The Starcademy in ''Series/SpaceCases''. The show also stars two teachers and several cadets from said school.
59* ''Tom Corbett: Space Cadet'', with a dose of EdutainmentShow as well.
60* ''Series/RedDwarf'' makes references to a Space Corps Academy, where Rimmer had wanted to attend, but wasn't sent like his brothers were. [[spoiler: Well, except Howard.]]
61* ''Series/{{Pandora}}'' starts off with main character Jax being sent to Space Academy after the death of her parents.
62* ''Series/SpaceAcademy'' is all but the ''TropeNamer'', as it's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
63* The Time Lords from ''Franchise/DoctorWho'' all spent centuries training at the Time Lord Academy, learning Stellar Engineering and Spacial Cartography alongside several non-space subjects.
64[[/folder]]
65
66[[folder:TabletopGames]]
67* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has the Scholae Progenium, schools which only admit orphans whose parents died serving the Imperium. Their students graduate to become [[ThePoliticalOfficer Commissars]], [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous Tempestus Scions]], [[ChurchMilitant Adeptas Soritas]], [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner Adeptus Arbites]], or even [[ProfessionalKiller Imperial Assassins]] or [[StateSec Inquisitors]]. As with many institutions in the setting, the experience of attending one of these varies depending on the location and [[UnreliableNarrator the source of the information]] from merely difficult to [[TheSpartanWay lethally brutal]].
68[[/folder]]
69
70[[folder:Video Games]]
71* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
72** ''VideoGame/StarTrekStarfleetAcademy'' features the eponymous institution.
73** The Elite Command Academy, the Klingon's counterpart to the Federation institution in ''VideoGame/StarTrekKlingonAcademy''.
74** In ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' Starfleet Academy and Klingon Academy are major features of Earth and Qo'noS respectively, with instruction-related duty officer assignments and a daily event to teach cadets about gathering particle samples that rewards dilithium.
75* The Terran Confederation Academy in ''VideoGame/WingCommander''. The animation ''WesternAnimation/WingCommanderAcademy'' in particular features Academy cadets as the main characters.
76* ''VideoGame/MechQuest's'' GEARS Academy.
77* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVTheNextMutation'' starts at the Starcon Academy.
78[[/folder]]
79
80[[folder:Western Animation]]
81* The Plumber's Academy from the later ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' series.
82* The [[FunWithAcronyms P.Y.R.A.M.I.D.]] (Pharaoh Yasiro’s Research Academy and Military Initiative of Defense) in ''WesternAnimation/CleopatraInSpace'' (based on the comic mentioned above,) which is a school for teens of various species that functions not unlike Starfleet, i.e. focusing on exploration and science while also having the main objective of fighting the GalacticConquerer BigBad that the titular Cleopatra is destined to defeat. In practice it's basically high school and part of Cleopatra's adjustment to being brought into the future is going from princess of Ancient Egypt to OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent and all that entails, i.e. dealing with the local AlphaBitch and trying not to embarrass herself in front of her crush (and mostly failing at the second.) Interestingly, the three-man teams within the student body can become "official" and go on actual missions once they're approved by the ruling body of the academy, which allows Cleo and her friends to have adventures while still living the student life.
83* The setting of a PoorlyDisguisedPilot for ''Crash Nebula!'' on ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents!''.
84* The Space Ranger Academy of ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand''.
85* A flashback episode of ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'' featured one, as a seeming homage to ''Literature/EndersGame''.
86* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' has an Autobot Academy where young bots get trained for duty. Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Wasp were all in the same class. Bulkhead and Bee graduated, while Wasp was caught for a crime and expelled, leaving him very embittered.
87* The Galaxy Garrison in ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' is an example of this.
88[[/folder]]
89
90[[folder:Real Life]]
91* RealLife has an attempted version of this in ''Film/SpaceCamp''.
92* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut_training Astronauts]] have to train somewhere.
93[[/folder]]
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