The role of the key educational paths for ESA new member states as a risk reduction index for the newcomers

The new ESA member states are an important factor in the development of European sustainability and independence in space. Cooperation between European countries in the field of space, gives a strong conviction that we operate without borders in space. It is therefore necessary to create not so much international links, but rather supranational ones. This also applies to space education. One of the primary missions of ESA is to create a community of highly specialized engineers, managers, as well as scientists who will focus on developing the space economy and allowing societies to understand our role and interactions with space. Based on the experience gained in the period after Poland's accession to ESA, the authors would like to emphasize the role of key educational pathways that can guide ESA officers in new member countries and in any country that has already entered ESA structures or plans to enter in the near future. The authors would like to emphasize that there are several ways to share and improve knowledge and would like to present the main insights of the study conducted in this respect. Drawing on the Polish space industry and using it as a reference basis, but also applying some observations from the Czech Republic and now Latvia, the authors identified the following main learning paths: • The activity of students within student associations, who implement space projects through dedicated programs; • The role of YGTs who, after a period of training at ESA, return with a set of knowledge to their countries; • The importance of the know-how of the international space market, in particular global companies setting up subsidiaries in new ESA member countries and bringing their experience and knowledge there; • Dedicated educational programs for people who do not have a formal space education (engineering) but want to develop in various areas of the space industry; The sequence of the presented educational pathways is not accidental. The authors want to present the role of each pathway and show how it can be applied in practice. The authors recognize some deficiencies in the presented pathways, as well as note a trend towards strengthening interest in dedicated educational programs at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Based on their own educational experience and taking into account the status quo of space education (at least) in central Europe, the authors would like to present ideas for structuring professional education in the space industry, taking into account its recent changes, where the demanding factor of business competition should be added to the technological factor. So, where an interdisciplinary approach should be adopted. Each educational pathway has been analysed from the point of view of risks and opportunities. This analysis can be applied by new participants in the commercial space market (understood as new companies or scientific groups), but also by new ESA member states at the institutional level.