Hanwha bolsters space manpower

South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group is looking to add more talent to ramp up its space personnel resources and lead the opening of the country’s space era.

Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Systems on Monday opened a recruitment process to hire newcomers and experienced job seekers as crew members of the Space Hub -- Hanwha’s conglomeratewide council dedicated to developing space businesses.

According to the recruitment notice, Hanwha plans to hire over 100 people in 10 space sectors, such as engine system, burner design and mission and guidance control. The recruitment for newcomers runs through Aug. 18, while applications for experienced job seekers remain open until the positions are filled.

Launched in March 2021, the Space Hub has been led by Kim Dong-kwan, the group’s vice chairman and the eldest son of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn.

Starting with Monday’s recruitment notice, Hanwha said it will take aggressive actions to lure talents from both in and out of Korea as the space industry requires securing professionals in various technological areas.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT’s report on the status analysis of the space industry in 2022, the number of people working in the space sector was 170,000 in the US, while there were only 10,000 people working in the space sector in Korea.

Hanwha has upgraded efforts to foster future space talents. The Space Hub has been conducting an educational program for middle school students for the past two years in cooperation with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The Space Hub and KAIST jointly established a space research center in 2021 to advance the space expertise of young researchers and engineers.

Hanwha Aerospace will lead three more of the homegrown Nuri rocket's launches through 2027 as a system integration company after winning the government bid in December last year. Hanwha Aerospace is seeking to win another government project to develop a next-generation satellite launch vehicle capable of launching heavier payloads than the Nuri rocket.

“We will actively play an important role in public-private cooperation by securing talented people to go beyond the launch vehicle project and be in line with the government's 'space economy road map' of landing on the moon in 2032 and landing on Mars in 2045,” said Hanwha Aerospace in a statement.