Toyota investiert 44,3 Millionen US-Dollar in japanisches Startup zur Massenproduktion von Raketen | Der Umzug spiegelt die ehrgeizige Mobilitätsvision des Unternehmens wider

From the article: Toyota’s chairman Akio Toyoda made the announcement at CES 2025 when he introduced the concept of “invention by kakezan” or “invention by multiplication,” referring to the potential that emerges from collaborative efforts.

“When it comes to what’s possible when you work together, the sky’s the limit,” Toyoda said, before revealing the company’s interest in rockets. “The future of mobility shouldn’t be limited to just Earth or just one car company,” he added, in what appeared to be a subtle reference to Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk’s involvement with SpaceX.

Toyota is partnering with Interstellar Technologies, a private Japanese spaceflight company, for its space ambitions. The automaker has invested 7 billion yen (approximately $44.3 million) into Interstellar Technologies through its subsidiary, Woven by Toyota.

Interstellar Technologies aims to mass-produce lightweight rockets and compete in the growing commercial space industry. The collaboration seeks to leverage Toyota’s automotive expertise, particularly its production methods, to transform rocket manufacturing into a high-quality, cost-effective, and scalable process.

I look forward to seeing what they can do. The Japanese were able to make some massive improvements to the way manufacturing is done, so much so that many of the best practices have Japanese names. If they can make similar improvements to the ticket industry it would be amazing.