Issey Ryu Itahashi (born 21.1.2008) is the Founder & CEO of The Rocket Corporation.
He was recognized as one of the youngest company founders in history of Austria, when the commercial court of Vienna registered Ryu Issey as a majority shareholder in The Rocket Corporation GmbH, at the age of 13, in the national interest of the country to create independent space access.
The Rocket Corporation is now building the First Heavy Rocket Spaceport in the Middle East.
Ryu Issey was born into a business family, with deep roots in Japanese history. His great-grandfather was a Daimyo of Gifu, a Japanese ruler, whose only son, Kinuemon, survived the Emperor Meiji's revolution. Issey and his brother Naruomi are the sole male line descendants of the Daimyo in their family's 200-year history. More details are in the Family Ancestry below.
At the age of 6, Ryu Issey was admitted to a government school for highly gifted children, but from an early age, he was ashamed to be classified according to IQ (Ryu Issey’s IQ was assessed at 160), so he asked to take some classes also with children from the state school program. Issey's talent for mathematics was tremendous; he became the youngest student in the country to enter a middle school program in mathematics at the age of 7 years old.
At the age of 9, without his family's knowledge, Issey hired a high school mathematics professor from Brazil, whom he paid with his own pocket money secretly via an online application, because he was shy to ask his family to hire a different teacher than the one assigned to him by the school. He attended the school for gifted children only for 4 years, during which he won multiple national competitions in mathematics and physics. In some of them, he became the youngest winner in the history of the competitions, before he decided to leave the school and start studying a high school program.
Issey in the middle at the age of 10 with his 15 years old classmates.
When Ryu Issey expressed a wish to study independently full-time at the age of 10, the family lived in Europe. Studying at home was impossible at that time since most countries had compulsory state education until the age of 16. The few countries that permitted such an education format did not allow students to select their own subjects, such as rocket engineering, stock market analysis, or the history of space-faring nations, which were his main interests for self-education.
This left Ryu Issey’s family with only one option - to go on the road and relocate from one country to another to allow Issey to study independently. The family tried to reside in countries that permitted Japanese citizens to study independently for 6 to 12 months after arrival. For this reason, between the ages of 11 and 15, Ryu Issey and his family lived in 9 countries (Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Seychelles, Liechtenstein, and Austria).
At the age of 11, he became the world's youngest gemologist (in Idar Oberstein, Germany). At the age of 13, Issey graduated from high school (in Wimbledon, United Kingdom). Also, at the age of 13, he was the youngest mathematics middle school teacher (in the country of Seychelles). Since 2021, he has been working in the rocket industry (in Vienna, Austria).
In 2019, during one family holiday in Sri Lanka, Ryu Issey was cheated by a local salesman when he bought a gift for his mom. Ryu Issey paid all his pocket money of 120 Euros for a stone, which the seller described as a really valuable amethyst. Later that day, Ryu Issey found out at a second precious stone shop that the real value of the stone was about 10 Euros. Ryu Issey went into tears, realizing that his inability to assign the real value to items was making him too vulnerable. That month, Ryu Issey applied to the School of Gemology in Idar Oberstein, Germany. Ryu Issey explained that when he applied to this school, he had no interest in diamonds or precious stones particularly, but wanted to understand how evaluations work, how not to be exploited easily, and how to protect his close ones.
In 2019, Ryu Issey was admitted to the world-known Gemology School in Idar Oberstein. However, a few weeks after admission, some school associates expressed to the school director that the school shall not accept someone of Ryu Issey's age, as the school provides elite world education for diamond industry experts or university postgraduates, and this information of a small boy attending the institute could hurt the prestigious school, which shall profile itself as one of the most difficult in the world.
After 4 months, Ryu Issey completed the all theoretical tests, with only one final practical test to take, certain school members grew concerned again and put pressure on the school’s leaders, questioning how it was possible that Ryu Issey was passing tests which adults were failing. A few days before the final exam, Ryu Issey was called to the director’s office, where the director explained that Ryu Issey’s hands were not yet stable enough to work with diamonds, so he would not be allowed to take the final practical test.
When this information reached the classmates of Ryu Issey, they decided to confront the director and expressed that this form of age discrimination was not acceptable. The students stated that if the school would not allow Ryu Issey to take part in the final test, they would not want to be associated with such an institution, would end their education earlier, and demand a full refund for their tuition.
To put things in perspective, Ryu Issey was working in adult-designed laboratories and was not able to reach the microscope from a sitting position during the whole 500+ hours of laboratory analysis. Unlike his adult colleagues who could sit, he was working all day in a standing position. Despite this, he was able to confirm the chemical and physical properties of precious stones and diamonds. Therefore, it came as a surprise to his classmates that he did not deserve to take the final test.
Upon this school revolution, the school board allowed Ryu Issey to take the final test. Ryu Issey passed the last test with 100% accuracy, and at the age of 11, he became the world’s youngest authorized gemologist, permitted to issue legal opinions for the evaluation of diamonds, precious stones, and pearls in court.
At the age of 13, after graduating from high school in the UK, Ryu Issey applied for an internship as a middle school Mathematics teacher in Seychelles. The Ministry of Education in Seychelles granted him the position, allowing him to become the youngest teacher in the country's history. However, upon his arrival in Seychelles, the immigration police doubted the authenticity of the documentation, which was the invitation to teach at the middle school in Seychelles issued by the Ministry of Education, due to Ryu Issey’s age. The police conducted a thorough search and interrogation of the family and, after about 3 hours, canceled Ryu Issey’s visa and requested the family to leave Seychelles in the following days.
As the family was waiting for information on whether they would be deported or not, their rooms were robbed, leaving the family without computers, mobiles, cash, and Ryu’s personal bag. The next morning, the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs confirmed the validity of his invitation to the immigration and reinstated the visa, and Ryu Issey could attend his first introduction meeting at the middle school, where he was supposed to start teaching at 7 am. The mathematics department and school board welcomed him with great honor, and Ryu knew that this was the place he wanted to be despite everything. He never missed a class during the whole period of his 3-month internship, first working as an assistant teacher and later as a teacher. After his three-month stint in Seychelles, Ryu Issey’s popularity soared, becoming a topic of national news and recognition on the streets.
In an interview, when asked if he would return the following year, Ryu Issey replied, “I consider the education in Seychelles as one of the best in the world, allowing children to study at a slower or faster pace depending on their personal abilities, but I think I would like to return for a purpose to launch a suborbital rocket.” Immediately the following day, the statement garnered support from local friends and the school, encouraging him to apply for a rocket launch permit. Consequently, Ryu personally submitted the application to the president. It was granted to him in the following month, after applying.
Since the return from Seychelles, Ryu Issey was looking for a country which will allow him to establish a company at the 13 years old. The two countries that could consider this request were Austria and Germany.
Ryu Issey established Caramel Rockets GmbH with a few chemistry professors in Vienna, Austria on January 4th, 2022. Caramel Rockets GmbH was working with students, researching the rocket industry, communicating with European and Asian companies and universities, and working towards a potential rocket launch and a long term business model.
After a while, Ryu Issey learned that a rocket launch from Seychelles was not practical, due to a variety of business and technical challenges.
From then, he decided to observe the industry broadly, and analyze where the current rocket industry is headed, who will be the primary players, and what are the key challenges that should be solved.
Ryu Issey realized that 190+ countries, from Europe, Asia, South America, Oceania are all going to lose independent cost-effective access to space by 2035. The cost of all the rockets in these regions is between 30 times to 100 times greater than in the US and China, which currently launch 95% of all mass to orbit.
What needed to be solved to keep Europe and many others independent, was to develop Reusable Heavy Rockets as soon as possible, something no European or Asian Space agencies and Private Companies in Europe or Asia have planned for the next 10 years.
During this time, the chemistry professors kept stubbornly pushing him to focus on Small-Rocket launches, as they thought this is the future. Ryu Issey disagreed, stating the economics don’t make any sense, as small rockets have a cost/kg to LEO of 20 000 euros or more, compared to a Reusable Heavy Rocket which can offer a cost/kg to LEO for less than 200 euros.
With the professors unwilling to change their opinion, Ryu Issey left, and started a new entity, with him as the sole shareholder, focused on the development of Reusable Heavy Rockets.
On November 3rd, 2023, Ryu Issey established the second company, The Rocket Corporation, which is focused on providing independent cost-effective space access for nations of Europe, The Middle East and Asia.
By developing Reusable Heavy Rocket technologies, The Rocket Corporation will bring the cost of space access to less than 200 Eur/kg compared to the 5000 to 10 000 Eur/kg currently offered by most European and Asian launch vehicles.
To read more about The Rocket Corporation, visit the main website.
Issey enjoys listening to Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Horowitz and Rachmaninoff and many other composers and pianists. He learned how to play piano by mimicking the hand movements of pianists. He never felt the need to learn sheet music, observing that concert pianists performed without it.
His list of repertoire since 2020 includes - Chopin’s Waltz Op. 69 No. 2, Mozart’s Turkish March, Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 Op. 23, Rachmaninoff’s Morceaux de Fantaisie Op. 3 No. 2, Scriabin’s Etude Op. 8 No. 12, Chopin’s Scherzo No. 1 Op. 20, and Scriabin’s Etude Op.42 No.5
To support his life and travel expenses when building the rocket project, Ryu Issey manages Investment Portfolio " The Hansburgs" and publishes monthly holding data, and annual performance. The portfolio is currently made up of equities and exchange traded funds.
To read more, visit: www.thehabsburgs.com.
Ryu Issey was born in 2008 to Father Yoshitake Itahashi (born in Nagoya, Japan in 1974) and Mother Miriam Itahashi (born in Czechoslovakia in 1978). He has one brother, Naruomi, born in 2010. The couple moved from Japan to Europe shortly after their wedding.
Ryu Issey didn't speak any words until he was 2 years old, but could solve simple mathematical problems suitable for 5-year-old children, using his fingers. When his mother was asked during a radio interview about her son’s first words, she replied, 'Unfortunately, it was not 'mommy', it was 'Yamato', which is the name of a Spaceship from a Japanese Cartoon.' This radio show aired when Issey was 5 years old, but no one gave any deep importance to this information, until Ryu Issey was 14 years old, and started asking around how to contact the designer of Yamato from the Cartoon Mr. Akira Matsumoto, to ask him about his perspective on spaceship design. Unfortunately, Mr. Matsumoto died in 2023, only 3 days after Ryu Issey found his contact details.
From the time Naruomi was 3 years old, he gave all his money to Ryu Issey, so that his brother could buy big LEGO sets, from which he could build rockets and space stations. Naruomi felt he didn't need much money to be satisfied, and usually only bought himself pencils for drawing, which made him happiest. At the age of 6, he was admitted to an elementary school for gifted children due to his artistic talent. Naruomi left the school early to join Ryu Issey on his European journey for “independent education”. Naruomi loves studying the history of Japan and Japanese swords and wearing Kimono. Naruomi is somewhat of an old soul, always speaking to the family about happiness and forgiveness.
Ryu Issey’s great-grandfather, Kinuemon (1870–1940), as the only son of the Daimyo, was born at the time of Emperor Meiji's revolution and was, therefore, shortly after birth entrusted to the care of the Itahashi family for security reasons, to ensure his protection during the Revolution.
The Itahashi family, among the richest families in Japan and specialized in sake production, took the boy under their name to secure his life.
When Kinuemon was 8 years old, he began his studies in a Buddhist monastery. After returning from the monastery, he opened his own company, which produced and supplied food and semi-finished products from the fishing industry. Although he tried to assert himself in the preparation and delivery of culinary foods, his customers were more interested in his important contacts, and asked him for help in arranging marriages, and providing premarital counseling for their children, who were ready to marry. After 40 years old, Kinuemon moved to Nagoya City, where he opened the first premarital and marriage counseling center. He died at the age of 70 as a well-known figure in social life.
Kinuemon ( on the picture in the middle ) was a leader in the higher social circles of Nagoya city.
"Ryu Kitchi Itahashi, the only son of Kinuemon, was born in 1899. He crafted original laces for kimonos and kimono shoes. In 1940, when Ryu Kitchi was 41, he married young, only 18-year-old Hujie. They had three sons and two girls together. Unfortunately, two boys died at the age of 3 and 4 years old, of childhood diseases. Ryu Kitchi himself also passed away very early, from pneumonia at the age of 59. At that time, he was survived by his wife and three children - girl Yuriko Itahashi, born on December 23, 1931, girl Tamiko Itahashi, born in 1940, who studied electrical engineering; and boy Ryuzo Itahashi, born on June 5, 1942."
Ryuzo Itahashi, the grandfather of Ryu Issey, was born in Nagoya, Japan, where he worked most of his life as the CEO of Japanese golf resort company. Ryuzo had an unbelievable talent for recognizing any classical pianist by name, just by listening to their style on the radio, for only a few seconds.
He married Etsuko 3 months after they met, and had two children together, a girl, Yuka, and a boy, Yoshitake. Yuka got married to a foreign boy from Canada, and Yoshitake, married a foreign girl from Europe. Ryuzo visited both children at their weddings abroad, but shortly after, he underwent severe heart surgery and has not been able to travel since.
