韩华启动第五期 Space Pebbles 青少年航天人才培养项目

The fifth cohort of "Space Pebbles," a space talent development program jointly created by Hanwha (000880.KS) Group and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), has begun full-scale activities.
Hanwha said on the 26th that the fifth Space Pebbles cohort was launched on the 25th at the Hanwha Building in Janggyo-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul. Space Pebbles is a program that discovers and nurtures talented first- and second-year middle school students nationwide to strengthen the competitiveness of Korea's space industry.
Hanwha selected 30 participants for the fifth cohort through essay evaluations and debate-style interviews. By the end of the year, the program will conduct education under the theme "Space Technology for Korea" together with faculty from KAIST's Department of Aerospace Engineering, among others.
The first session is the "Space Humanities Conference." In this session, participants meet science communicators, space scientists, and researchers to hear their stories, ask questions, and hold discussions.
The first speaker, science communicator "Gwedo," lectured on the technologies needed for long-term survival in space and the challenges that must be addressed. Following this, space law expert attorney Ahn Young-shin introduced various situations that could arise in space, where borders are meaningless, from the perspective of law and institutions.
In particular, this year Gwedo and three KAIST professors dedicated to Space Pebbles participated as panelists in a space science talk concert. The talk concert proceeded in a format where students asked questions about their usual curiosities regarding space, and the panelists answered from various perspectives.
At the second Space Humanities Conference held next month, Ahn Hyung-jun, head of the Space Public Team at the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), and Kim Sang-kyun, professor of the AI Business major at Kyung Hee University's School of Management, will provide education on policies and social changes surrounding the space industry.
Students who complete the Space Pebbles program receive benefits including a certificate issued in the name of the KAIST president, an opportunity to take courses at the KAIST Gifted Education Institute, KAIST mentoring, and an opportunity for all participants to visit overseas space agencies.
"The space industry requires a single solution encompassing launch vehicles, satellite manufacturing, and operations, and its high relevance to artificial intelligence (AI) means that the enlargement and integration of space companies is a global trend," a Hanwha Group official said. "It is very meaningful in that, through Space Pebbles, we are responsible for nurturing talent for Korea's space industry."
Hanwha Group recently announced a plan to invest a total of 55 trillion won in the aerospace and AI industries by 2040, aiming to make Korea a leap forward as an AI space power, and to build integrated space infrastructure encompassing independent launch vehicles, satellite networks, and defense AI.