Jan. 7 (UPI) — The Toyota Motor Corporation will invest $44.4 million in Japan-based Interstellar Technologies to help the private space company develop rockets to launch satellites into orbit.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda announced the automaker’s intention to invest in Interstellar Technologies during the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday.
While discussing Toyota’s investments in many technologies, Toyoda briefly discussed the company’s latest venture into private spaceflight.
“When it comes to what’s possible when you work together, the sky’s the limit,” Toyoda told CES attendees and media. “Speaking of air, we are also investigating missiles.”
He said the “future of mobility should not be limited to just the Earth or one car company,” TechCrunch and Proactive Investors reported.
The investment would make Toyota the second Japanese automaker to venture into space.
Automaker Mitsubishi developed the H3 rocket for the Japanese space agency JAXA.
Toyoda shared renderings of rocket designs while addressing CES attendees.
Toyota’s space partner Interstellar Technologies is developing a small rocket that can put satellites into orbit.
Engineers from Toyota and Interstellar Technologies want to develop a space-based telecommunications network to support Toyota Woven City, a 175-hectare prototype city located at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan.
Toyoda has announced that the first phase of Toyota Woven City will be completed and active in the fall.
Woven City is a “test course for mobility” to enable inventors to develop, test and validate innovative products and services that “drive innovation and shape a better future,” according to Toyota.
