Toyota plans to invest more than $44 million in the rocket company

Toyota’s mobility subsidiary will invest $44.3 million in a Japanese rocket company.

Interstellar Technologies (IST) is set to receive a multi-million dollar investment from Toyota “by the first close” of its Series F fundraising, the rocket company said on Tuesday. It also announced a “business alliance” with Toyota.

IST said it “aims to benefit from the expertise of the automotive industry, including… Production methods at Toyota“To transform missile manufacturing into a high-quality, cost-effective and scalable process.”

“We are excited to cooperate with Interstellar Technologies in the mass production of rockets,” said Hajime Komabe, CEO of Toyota. “This business alliance will leverage Toyota Group’s extensive manufacturing capabilities and combine our expertise to advance rocket production and continue driving the transformation of mobility.”

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As part of the capital and business linkage, Woven will appoint a director to the IST Board of Directors and support missile production by strengthening supply chains and corporate governance, IST said in a statement.

The announcement came after Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda spoke at the CES trade show in Las Vegas on Monday, when he provided updates on the company’s Woven City pilot project, which was announced in 2020.

“The future of mobility should not be limited to land alone, or to just one car company,” Toyoda said. “Speaking of the sky, we’re exploring rockets, too.”

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This is not the first time Toyota and Interstellar have worked together through Toyota investments. The two companies have been conducting “employee exchanges” since 2020, the rocket startup said.

In its announcement on Tuesday of the planned $44.3 million investment, Interstellar noted that the Japanese government wants to make it happen. About 30 missile launches Annually “by the early 2030s” in order to “meet the growing demand for launches domestically and internationally”.

Last year, three rockets were launched in Japan, according to Interstellar.

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The rocket company said in August that it… Series E fundraising efforts It brought it 3.1 billion yen in funding. That round included allocating shares to third parties, according to its press release issued at the time.

Reuters contributed to this report.