Bezos' Blue Origin launches first space mission of 2018

Los Angeles, April 30
Blue Origin, the US aerospace company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, launched on Sunday the suborbital New Shepard rocket and space capsule.

The mission marked the company's first flight of the year and second flight of the New Shepard 2.0 spacecraft, Xinhua news agency reported.

Thunderstorms have delayed Sunday's planned launch of Blue Origin's New Shepard 2.0 spacecraft. The rocket blasted off from its West Texas test site.

This is Blue Origin's eight spaceflight since the company began flight testing New Shepard vehicles.

The first New Shepard 2.0 launch occurred in December 2017, with six other flights launching on a predecessor New Shepard, which Blue Origin has since retired.