Hydrophobic silica aerogel beads with low thermal conductivity and high porosity were prepared using a cost-effective sodium silicate as a silica source via an ambient-pressure drying process. Monolithic wet gels were first prepared by adjusting pH (∼5) of a diluted sodium silicate solution. The silica aerogel beads (0.5∼20 mm) were manufactured by breaking the wet gel monoliths under a simultaneous solvent exchange/surface modification process and an ambient-pressure drying process without using co-precursors or templates. Dried silica aerogel beads exhibit a comparable porosity (593 m2/g of surface area, 34.9 nm of pore size, and 4.4 cm3/g of pore volume) to that of the aerogel powder prepared in the same conditions. Thermal conductivity of the silica aerogel beads (19.8 mW/mK at 20 ℃) is also identical to the aerogel powder.