Agency
10/04/2026
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In June 2025, the ESA Education Office launched an industry mentorship initiative as part of the Fly Your Satellite! Educational Satellites programme, connecting university teams with professionals from the European space industry. Designed with the goal of broadening the student teams theoretical and practical knowledge and fostering their professional maturity, the initiative has now reached a first milestone, with the completion of its six-month pilot phase.
As part of this initiative, teams participating in the ESA Education’s Educational Satellites programmes (Fly Your Satellite! and Design Booster) were given the opportunity to partner with an industry mentor working in the European space sector. After careful partnering between teams and mentors, the industry experts supported the teams by providing experienced hands-on technical and programmatic guidance, bringing an industry perspective that complements ESA’s technical expertise and enriches the students’ learning experience. At the same time, the programme offers industries a valuable opportunity to cultivate talent by identifying and connecting with bright young engineers.
The initiative offered complementary practical knowledge on industry work practices, serving as a unique bridge between academia and industry and expanding students’ professional networks, in addition to ESA’s core support from various directorates. It is part of ESA’s Space for Education 2030 vision, which fosters collaboration between ESA, academia, and industry to equip students with the skills and network needed to thrive in the evolving space sector.
Eight student teams coming from different programme cycles were each paired with a mentor from a European space company, matched based on the team’s project needs and the mentor’s area of expertise, with meetings held periodically throughout the period.
Out of the eight teams, four decided to continue the mentorship beyond the initial phase, thanks to a strong working relationship and good synergy between the teams and their assigned mentors. The remaining teams had already reached an advanced stage in their projects, making the pilot phase sufficient for their current needs. The initiative has now entered an additional six-month period, allowing these collaborations to develop further.
ESA Education would like to extend its thanks to all the mentors and their companies for generously contributing their time and expertise to support the next generation of space engineers. Their commitment to this initiative is a valuable contribution to Europe’s growing space ecosystem.
Stay tuned for updates as the mentorship progresses, and in the meanwhile, you can learn more about the ESA Academy Educational Satellites programmes on our website.
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