June 5th: World Environment Day
Announcing “ECO ROCKET” for “Sustainable Space Development”

SPACE WALKER (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Co-Founder CEO: Akihide Manabe; hereafter ‘SPACE WALKER’) is an aerospace startup affiliated with the Tokyo University of Science. A wide range of research is conducted to develop winged reusable launch vehicles (“suborbital spaceplanes”) with a vision of sustainable future space transportation, where everyone can travel freely between Earth and Space, similar to air travel today.

In 2021, SPACE WALKER proclaimed a “Pledge to Sustainable Space Development”.

For World Environment Day in 2022, SPACE WALKER unveils “ECO ROCKET”, a definition of the concept of SPACE WALKER’s spaceplane, which is currently under development. This announcement clarifies one of the ways in which SPACE WALKER engages with global environmental problems in its commitment to economic responsibility.

▼What is ECO ROCKET
There are three main elements: Reusable, Clean Fuel, and Autonomous Navigation System.

1. Reusable
Dr. Yonemoto, Co-Founder CTO of SPACE WALKER, has been involved in the development of “winged reusable rockets” for more than 30 years since prior to the company’s founding. The rockets not only dramatically reduces cost and enables high-frequency launches, but also has low environmental impact (elimination of the practice of ocean dumping).

2. Clean Fuel
In some cases, fossil fuels or highly toxic fuels are used to launch rockets. SPACE WALKER is working with partner entities to develop a bio-fuel to power launches, utilizing methane derived from cow manure.

3. Autonomous Navigation System
SPACE WALKER is developing a rocket equipped with an autonomous navigation system.