![](\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/incoming\/article31678030.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_Funny-portrait-of-a-mooing-cow-laughing-with-mouth-open-showing-gums-teeth-and-tongue.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSpace boffins are kicking up a stink with a new hi-tech rocket fuelled by cow dung.<\/p>\n
They have already tested the manure-powered engine on their 105ft Zero Earth orbiter, dubbed Dr Phew.<\/p>\n
And the combustion chamber successfully burned for 10 seconds \u2013 demonstrating liquid biomethane can be a sustainable rocket fuel.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Putin breaks silence on body double rumours after facing off against bizarre AI<\/b><\/p>\n
For the latest news and updates on space travel across the galaxy, click here.<\/i> <\/b><\/p>\n
Start-up Interstellar Technologies Inc, based at the Hokkaido Spaceport, in Japan, said its first scheduled flight in 2025 will use manure from local dairy cows.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Boss Takahiro Inagawa added their new-generation rocket system "will be replicated all over the world".<\/p>\n
He continued: "We are doing this not just because it is good for the environment but because it can be produced locally, it is very cost-effective, and it is a fuel with high performance and high purity."<\/p>\n
With the Japanese space industry suffering a few setbacks this year, their finest boffins believe it will be farmland creatures which power them back into the lead in the space race.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/incoming\/article31678031.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/1_Cow-looking-over-shoulder.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
It comes as speedy tests elsewhere in the world are conducted, with an 11,000mph rocket ship shot off to Mars. Said flight did not have any brakes included on it.<\/p>\n
European Space Agency chiefs are hoping to test out a new "aerocapture" strategy which would be used to prevent the ships from launching without being able to brake on their own.<\/p>\n
The Daily Star reported the wild endeavour, with an ESA statement confirming plans to start "piggybacking" test crafts onto larger missions as a way of seeing if spaceships could maintain propellants fast enough to create space travel.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/incoming\/article31678034.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/1_An-Atlast-V-rocket-carrying-the-Juno-spacecraft-during-a-midday-launch.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
An ESA statement said: \u201cWe are venturing towards putting a spacecraft into orbit around Mars using a technique that engineers have studied for over half a century.<\/p>\n
"This idea, known as 'aerocapture', is not a new one. It has been tempting engineers since the mid-1960s for two main reasons. Firstly, it would reduce the amount of propellant that the spacecraft needs to carry.<\/p>\n
"Secondly, it would mean that we could choose to arrive at a planet with a higher speed, cutting cruise time. The idea has so far been perceived as too risky for its first use in a scientific mission, and sending a spacecraft to Mars with the sole aim of demonstrating aerocapture had been thought too expensive."<\/p>\n
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking <\/i><\/b>here<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n