The Center for Collaborative Study with Community and the Intelligent Production Technology Research & Development Center for Aerospace, Institute for Advanced Study at Gifu University held an opening ceremony for 'Space Engineering Seminar 2024' on Sunday, June 23, at Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum at Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture. This seminar aims to provide basic knowledge of space engineering and to foster talent who will play a leading role in satellite, rocket, and aviation industries in the future. Senior high school and technical college students from across Gifu Prefecture attended the ceremony (number of participants: 86 from 18 schools).

The seminar is conducted as an activity of the Gifu Space Study Association and as part of Gifu University's high school-university collaboration project. It is co-hosted, supported, and cooperated by the Kakamigahara City government, the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education, the Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum, the National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), Gifu College, the Gifu Industries' Association, College of Naka-nippon Aviation, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Planet Science (France). Participants can receive cutting-edge education in space engineering from Gifu University faculty and JAXA instructors online, and a JAXA tour is also planned for October.

The opening ceremony began with a greeting from President YOSHIDA Kazuhiro of Gifu University, followed by video messages from related organizations, a report on the national competition of the CanSat¹ division of the Space Koshien, and an activity report from the Gifu High School Sat (GHS) project. Additionally, Professor KAWAKATSU Yasuhiro from the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) gave a lecture titled 'Martian Moons eXploration (MMX): The World's First Mars Sample Return.' The participating students expressed that they were able to learn about the latest in space exploration and that their interest in space engineering had significantly increased.

The seminar will continue with a total of nine lectures scheduled until the closing ceremony on Saturday, December 21.

1) a very small and simple satellite but has similar functions with satellites and is maneuvered in the far distance from the human operators.