Toyota invests in rocket startup
In a positive sign that Japan’s rocket industry is beginning to join the private sector, Toyota yesterday announced that it is investing $44 million in the rocket startup Interstellar Technologies.
Interstellar had been more visible about five years ago, and then disappeared. I figured it had died having run out of cash. It appears it is coming back now in Japan.
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In a positive sign that Japan’s rocket industry is beginning to join the private sector, Toyota yesterday announced that it is investing $44 million in the rocket startup Interstellar Technologies.
Interstellar had been more visible about five years ago, and then disappeared. I figured it had died having run out of cash. It appears it is coming back now in Japan.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Remember that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries makes the H-II series rockets, that were originally derived from the Delta-III series of rockets. Mitsubishi is big like General Motors and has many subsidiaries.
Toyota is teaching Interstellar Technologies manufacturing. I like it. I always wondered why Japan never pursued space as much. I knew Japan had some problems with the H-IIA rocket and the government slashed funding to their HOPE mini-shuttle. Maybe free enterprises, like Interstellar, can accelerate their space program, like it did in the U.S.A.
I wonder if there is something cultural going on…China– even with the wrong economic system–is beating the pants off them–yes they cheat and hack–but that proves they have a hunger for space and won’t let anything stop them.
I really don’t understand how Japan hasn’t developed spaceflight more than they have–graying population can’t explain everything.
You either have a commitment to space or you don’t.