Toyota Boost For Rockets? Tesla-Like Space Plans Of Japanese Auto Giant Revealed

A research unit of Toyota is reportedly going to invest in a Japanese startup called Interstellar Technologies (IST) to support the mass production of rockets, the biggest carmaker of the world said on Tuesday.

As Toyota expands its footing in the space sector, Woven by Toyota is a subsidiary of the car making company that is building a "city of the future" in Japan, using its autonomous driving technology, and it is set to invest about 7 billion yen in Interstellar Technologies by the first close of its Series F funding.

Woven will appoint a director for the board of Interstellar Technologies as part of the capital business tie-up and will also strengthen supply chains and corporate governance, IST said in a statement.

Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda in a speech at the CES trade show in Las Vegas announced the investment, according to a Reuters report.

"The future of mobility shouldn't be limited to just Earth, or just one car company," Toyoda said. "Speaking of the sky, we're exploring rockets, too."

Toyota is also launching a lunar rover in association with the Japan's space agency that can carry astronauts on the moon's surface for the NASA-led Artemis programme.

Ever since Elon Musk has established SpaceX, his rocket and satellite company, the commercial race for space has accelerated in the last decade.

IST, which is based out of Hokkaido became the first Japanese company in 2019 to send a commercially developed rocket into space, but its orbital launcher Zero is still under development.

Interstellar's rival Space One attempted a second flight of its orbital rocket Kairos last month but it failed.

Japan's government aims to launch 30 rockets annually by the early 2030s and make Japan Asia's space hub, with an 8 trillion yen space industry, granting subsidies to startups such as IST and Space One.