Akio Toyoda Makes Refined Dig At Elon Musk As Toyota Invests In Rockets

So, automotive firm executives: Who’s bought the larger rocket?

A delicate however apparent dig at Tesla CEO Elon Musk got here from none aside from Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda at CES 2025 yesterday, amid his keynote speech about the Woven Metropolis challenge in Japan. That improvement is a part of Toyota’s aim of transitioning from being a conventional automotive firm to at least one targeted on “producing mobility and happiness for all,” as officers put it. 

However as a part of Toyota’s branching out into new areas, it is also investing ¥7 billion ($44 million) into the Japanese non-public spaceflight firm Interstellar Applied sciences Inc. That funding comes from the automaker’s expertise division, Woven by Toyota, and as Bloomberg confirmed, Toyota will achieve a seat on Interstellar Applied sciences’ board of administrators. The 2 firms have been collaborating in different methods since 2020.

“We imagine that by combining our strengths with these from completely different industries, we can create new merchandise and new providers we might by no means obtain on our personal,” Toyoda stated in his speech. “The sky is the restrict.”

As a part of that, “We’re exploring rockets as a result of the way forward for mobility should not be restricted to only earth,” Toyoda stated, “or only one automotive firm, for that matter.” 

Photograph by: InsideEVs

Toyota Woven Metropolis Briefing, CES 2025

However even when Interstellar Applied sciences’ flights take off—actually and figuratively—it has a protracted solution to go to match the presence of Musk’s SpaceX. Final yr, SpaceX carried out 134 rocket launches, an almost 40% enhance from the yr prior. SpaceX has carried out extra orbital launches than the remainder of the world mixed and is now basically the go-to firm for rocket missions.

Nevertheless, the demand for personal area launches—together with efforts like satellite tv for pc launches and ultimately even exploration—is predicted to rise considerably within the coming years and many years. Nevertheless, whereas the U.S. and China paved the way in launches, different nations like Japan path far behind. 

Photograph by: Toyota

“In distinction, Japan carried out simply three launches (in 2023), highlighting the necessity for development in home launch capability,” Interstellar Applied sciences stated in a information launch concerning the Toyota funding. In addition to capital, the area firm stated it would use Toyota’s manufacturing experience “to transition rocket manufacturing right into a high-quality, cost-effective, and scalable course of.”

For Toyota’s half, the funding in Interstellar Applied sciences represents extra strikes by its Woven R&D unit, $800 million Woven Capital development fund and Toyota Ventures early-stage capital agency to do extra than simply automobiles. These have included investments in aerial taxi firm Joby, New York-based electrical rideshare and charging firm Revel and robotic supply firm Nuro. Quickly, it needs so as to add as many as 2,000 residents, together with “inventors” and startup staff, to work and dwell in Woven Metropolis close to Mount Fuji. 

As Tesla has confirmed already, no automotive firm needs to simply be a automotive firm sooner or later. And possibly if this Toyota funding goes properly sufficient, Musk may have slightly competitors on the market among the many stars. 

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