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Japanese automaker Toyota is “exploring missiles,” CEO Akio Toyoda said It was announced on stage at CES 2025 on Monday, while hinting at the idea of moving people through space.
The rocket talk on stage at CES 2025 came as Toyoda explained how he sees his company’s myriad technologies as “invention by kakezan” or “invention by reproduction.”
“The sky’s the limit when it comes to what’s possible when you work together,” he said. After a dramatic pause, he continued, “And speaking of the sky, we’re also investigating rockets. Because the future of mobility shouldn’t just be limited to Earth or just one car company” – a possible dig at Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX.
Toyoda did not provide any details other than to show an on-stage image of the rocket, developed by Interstellar Technologies, a private Japanese space company originally working on a small launch vehicle designed to launch satellites into space. After the conference, Toyoda and other executives told TechCrunch that the company is working with Interstellar Technologies to explore what telecommunications network should be built to support the needs of Woven City, a 175-acre prototype city. Designed for the living laboratory of Mount Fuji. Toyota first announced plans to build the city in 2020 and announced on Monday the first phase is now open.
“When you think about cars that are always on the move, you need to have relevant telecommunications,” Woven by Toyota CEO Hajime Kumabe told TechCrunch at a media briefing. “This means that communication should not be interrupted, should not be interrupted, and this is achieved by seamless communication.”
He also noted that the Woven City’s location is mountainous, making it worthwhile to explore what the appropriate communication network infrastructure would be to support autonomous vehicles.
Executives also confirmed that Woven by Toyota has invested 7 billion yen, or about $44.3 million, in Interstellar Technologies.
A space flight is a wild idea to tease at the end of a press conference, although there is some precedent for such a move. Sony surprise-announced that he is working on an electric car five years ago at CES and barely made the news for more than a few minutes of stage time.
Toyota, meanwhile, has come under fire for years for its overly cautious stance on electric vehicle development. Not only does this seem like a step forward as major automakers scale back their ambitious plans for electrification, but perhaps Toyota was just eyeing a very different prize — space.
