The ESA_Lab@ initiative, a cooperation platform initiated in 2017, aims to establish solid institutional links between the European Space Agency, ESA Member States’ academia, and national research institutions. This partnership aims to attract and educate young and talented people, encouraging them to get involved in space activities while benefiting ESA’s research topics. Since its creation more than thirty years ago, the Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (a.k.a. MELiSSA) project has relied on networking with multidisciplinary academic, scientific, and engineering partners from multiple European countries. The project considers it essential to inform and educate about the challenges and difficulties, approach, and results. Due to its long-term perspective, the project naturally seeks collaboration with prestigious European universities and academic institutions to progress in specific key research areas. MELiSSA has progressively grown into a brainstorming platform welcoming and promoting young European STEM talents, from Master’s level to Postdoc positions. In the frame of the ESA_Lab@ initiative, MELiSSA has established strong ties with the French Engineering Schools CentraleSupélec (Paris-Saclay) and ISAE-SUPAERO (Toulouse). Leveraging its multi-disciplinary approach and dual space and terrestrial applications, MELiSSA strives, in the long-term, to foster cooperation with other ESA_Lab@ entities sharing the same research interests and will thus further support the growth of the whole ESA_Lab@ network. This presentation will include an introduction of the ESA_Lab@ initiative and an overview of the ongoing outreach and education activities proposed under the umbrella of the MELiSSA project at ESA_Lab@CentraleSupélec and ESA_Lab@ISAE-SUPAERO, opening the door for future educational collaborations.