Japanese firm to launch space-viewing balloon flights

Staffers carry a two-seater cabin that a startup company says is capable of rising to an altitude of 15 miles, which is roughly the middle of the stratosphere (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

A Japanese startup company has announced plans to launch a commercial space-viewing balloon flight that it hopes will bring down to Earth an otherwise astronomically expensive experience.

Company president Keisuke Iwaya told reporters passengers do not have to be billionaires, go through intense training or have the language skills needed to fly in a rocket.