Japan has succeeded in the first-ever flight test of its RV-X experimental reusable rocket prototype.

The recoveries herald a new era of reusability in spaceflight, which experts say will increase competition globally and could dramatically lower the cost of launching rockets into space.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — More than 50 years have passed since humans visited the moon, and history was made on Wednesday as NASA launched its crewed Artemis II for a flyby of Earth’s lunar sister.