Top Rocket Engineers of the world are uniting under 17-Year-Old CEO who is planning One of the Largest Private Space Infrastructure Projects Ever. A project which could position Saudi Arabia as a new global gateway to orbit.
Ryu Issey - UAE 2025
I bring you an exclusive interview with the man behind it, a young Japanese CEO, who has talked with me about the economic and political power behind the project. But what struck me most was not just the scale of his vision.
It was his age.
Only seventeen years old, leading rocket engineers far superior to his age, is the world’s youngest CEO of a rocket company. His name is RYU ISSEY.
Sitting across the table from him, Ryu is composed and disarmingly kind. And yes, the ambition is there — the bold numbers, the grand vision. But what you do not find is grandiose behavior. No exaggerated promises. No dramatic pitch.
Instead, you recognize a stable confidence in this young man.
Ryu Issey is crafting something that no one has ever done before – an outsider from Japan, educated in Europe, is working on building the Middle East’s first private heavy rocket spaceport.
He leads a team of senior engineers and consultants from the best European and Asian universities and connects the most influential space organizations to build a project that will give independent access to space to Saudi Arabia — and ultimately the whole Middle East— not through ideology, but through numbers, physics, and financial discipline. And that is what we are here to talk about.
Let me start with the most obvious question. You are the world’s youngest rocket company CEO. How do you gain the confidence of an investor or government when they see a teenage founder sitting across the table from them?
I lay out all the facts of the company.
That is all that is needed?
Yes. But I understand your question. In the beginning a lot of people focus on when I was born. After we discuss the opportunity the age is absolutely not relevant. I don’t play negotiating games. They see that, and appreciate I speak the facts. Of course, some people do not like to do business with much younger person, so some do try to put me down. But others pay attention to what I am saying instead of re-evaluating when I was born, which I can never change.
Why did you decide to build a heavy rocket spaceport ? It is a very unique target.
To support the growing need for more launches globally. Located in the Middle East we will be the premier launch site for European and Asian satellite companies, space agencies, and commercial projects to launch their payloads into space.
Two key aspects must be met for this, apart from just geographic proximity. The reusable heavy rocket we are building must lower the cost to 1000 $ / kg to space, secondly the rocket technology must be proven to be reliable for customers to be comfortable launching with us. We have a clear goal in achieving both these objectives.
Where will the space port be located and why ?
Exact location is still to be decided, however in most likelihood we will launch from a semi -remote location in Saudi Arabia, meaning 3-hour drive from high density cities on the red sea coast.
We chose the region for its geographic location that is really suitable for the launch of heavy rockets, Risk-Capital availability and well-prepared regulatory landscape. These are the main reasons but personally I have more. I like the region and the way it operates and I see it as the new Europe.
Are you building the rockets or a space port ?
Both.
What is the size of such a project and what is projected return on investment?
It costs around 7 billion, - plus minus 20 % depending on the region, to build up a heavy rocket spaceport, and reusable heavy rocket system. The investor can expect to turn 7 billion into 500 billion in the next 35 to 40 years.
In the first 30 years our CAGR will be close to the general industry average of around 8 to 9%. This is due to the fact that while the technology is being build up there is no revenue for the project in the first 15 years. But already from year 2040 an annual minimum of 3 to 4 billion USD is generated annually. After 30 years, it will grow exponentially due to future industry trends.
And at the same time, what is more important, is that we are not building a software for food delivery. It is a very big and strategic asset for a country to have its own spaceport, which is able to serve 50 or 70 other nations, and millions of internet consumers.
Ryu Issey - UAE, Presidential Palace 2025
Can you share with us how the project will be funded—private capital, sovereign funds, strategic partnerships?
Private capital and sovereign wealth funds. I really think the majority of the investment will be coming from sovereign wealth funds. But I already got information that private capital firms are waiting for us to start raising.
How risky is this investment?
I wouldn’t say I view it as a high risk. Quantum or AI are riskier because rocket technologies are proven, and we are not making innovations with unknown possibilities of success. Until now, we didn’t hear much about profitable rocket companies outside of SpaceX, but that is because most space agencies are government organizations, running on government incentives, and not even aiming for profit — except the Indian Space Agency to some extent – although this is an exception.
But in the upcoming years, rest of the nations will reconsider if these investments are worth it, and they will realize they are in huge losses, especially with satellite launches. I believe that over the next 50 years there will be only 2 or 3 big rocket providers in the world, each with a market cap of around 500 billion USD.
Why do you think your project will succeed where large space agencies with years of experience failed ?
Large space agencies for the most part didn’t fail, simply the industry is moving from being mostly the field of governments, to companies. In the recent years, yes space agencies are falling behind in their launch capability, but this isn’t a technical problem, I know a lot of engineers at these agencies, they are more than capable of building a starship like rocket if given the resources. It’s simply a management decision to allocate resources to other projects.
What is the timeline for the first launch ?
First Launch in 2035, 100 launches by 2041.
There are presently appearing many small rocket companies. Are you not afraid they will do it faster than you ?
This doesn’t matter to our business case. Even when Airbus took on Boeing in the 1970, there were hundreds of small plane companies trying to compete and differentiate themselves. Why didn’t they succeed? They were too small, and their strategy was wrong. It isn’t small rocket vs big rocket. Its big rocket vs big rocket. You need the cheapest cost/kg to space, not the cheapest overall cost of launch.
The small rocket companies are hoping to launch 500kg for 10 million dollars, but American rocket companies are launching 25 000 kg for 60 million.
Even if a customer only needs to launch 500kg, nothing is stopping him from booking a ride together with other satellites on the American rocket. He is paying 10x less.
What if one of these small rocket companies decides to convert to large rockets ? Will it affect your project ?
Our main adversary is the United States and China, in some way we are working towards a similar goal like these small rocket companies, although they are pursuing it the wrong way. They cannot convert to heavy rockets from one day to another, they need to raise billion dollar rounds, and will have to move their headquarters to a more appropriate location for heavy rocket launches, something they cannot find in Europe or Asia.
Will your company plan to allow other rocket companies to use your space port ?
Space port is not like ordinary airport where any plane can come and go. The space port and the rocket are deeply interconnected and the port is built for the particular rocket’s dimensions, weight, fuel and catching tower.
From the 15 small rocket companies that are on the market now, 12 doesn’t have a launch site. And those that have a launch site still transport sensitive technologies from their Headquarters to large distances in different parts of Europe. And this means that their chance to become a heavy rocket developer is very close to 0.
Who are your future clients?
The biggest clients would be companies working in space internet. For this, I hope to work also with local companies. So, our clients will be direct consumers, which are a much larger market than any government contracts. Consumers will buy a 500-dollar internet hub with a one-time fee and get internet from space for a fee of 50 EUR per month. These are millions of people — not only in the Middle East but worldwide.
In addition to that, I expect to be serving most of the European and Asian space agency launches. Our rocket can accommodate all of them. Our rocket has more payload capacity than their biggest launches, and we will become the nearest port to their countries — offering fast and easy delivery at cheaper cost. But that will make up only 15 to 20% of company revenue. The real race is space internet.
Do you think Europe will see countries of the middle east like UAE or Saudi Arabia as countries that could provide freer access to space than the USA or China currently provide?
Of course. Right now, countries mostly use the services of the US. I know that ESA, ISRO, and JAXA are not happy with this. They have spent billions trying to maintain their own systems but are still falling behind. We will provide a better system — much cheaper, competitive with Starship's price to orbit and will make rocket which can accommodate any mission they need. I believe they will be happy to launch with us.
Additionally, unlike SpaceX, we will employ not only American engineers but also European and Asian engineers — making us much more connected to Asian and European space agencies on a human level as well.
How will the country where the space port will be build benefit from this project due to spillover that the project might generate for sectors like logistics, defense, education, or tourism?
Well, it will be very beneficial to a lot of industries, but I don’t think about it as much because when I am making an investment case, I want the investment to be fundamentally profitable, and do not concern myself whether it will generate additional jobs and profits here and there. But yes, of course, the country where the space port will be build will effect many sectors, including logistics, connectivity, satellites, and agriculture.
Most large space companies are not on the stock market. What would drive you to go public? Is it access to capital, global legitimacy, or a larger vision to decentralize control of space access?
I would only do it if the investors ask for this. I would prefer the company to stay private.
Now more on personal note. You are half European and half Japanese, recently living in the middle east. In which country do you live presently ?
Already for one year now, I am travelling between Riyadh, Doha, Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, Japan, and Vienna, while staying in each country from 2 to 4 weeks to connect all the pieces of the project. In the following 2 years I hope to settle at the launch site.
You mentioned AI being of higher risk than rocket development. Mr. Alexandr Wang stated in multiple interviews that he works hard because he wants to make sure that America must win the AI war. Who do you think is the most likely to win the AI war?
(laughter) Yes, I am not sure what he meant by saying the word “win”. The only way you can win an AI war is if you break all the servers of the other country, but even then, they can build them up from scratch. It’s like saying, "We must win the coconut farming war" — it doesn’t make any sense.
Will you use AI while building the rockets?
No. There might be very specific machine learning used at times for certain parts like fuel injectors, but 80% of the work is just hardware.
My final question is, when do you expect to open the first investment round ?
We should be ready to present the details of this project to potential investors in Q4 this year.
Ryu Issey - CEO (left), Sarvesh Patil - Structural Lead (center), Samarth Gautam - Aerodynamics Lead (right)