Chinese citizen charged with flying drone over key US military, NASA rocket launch base, taking photos
A Chinese citizen living in Los Angeles allegedly flew a drone and took aerial images of Vandenberg Space Force Base last month, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Yinpiao Zhou, 39, was arrested this week at the San Francisco International Airport prior to boarding a China-bound flight, the Justice Department said. He is charged with failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and violation of national defense airspace.
On Nov. 30, drone detections systems at the military installation in Santa Barbara County detected a drone flying over the base, prosecutors said.
The drone originated from Ocean Park, a public area next to the base, and flew for nearly an hour. During its flight, the aircraft traveled to an altitude of almost one mile above ground level, authorities said.
Security personnel from the base went to a park and spoke with Zhou and someone with him.
Zhou had a drone that flew over the base concealed in his jacket, prosecutors said.
The drone was later searched and investigators found several photographs of the base were taken from above, authorities said. A search of Zhou’s cellphone showed that he conducted a Google search one month earlier for the phrase “Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules” and messaged with another person about hacking his drone to allow it to fly higher than it could otherwise.
Zhou is a permanent resident, most recently returning from China in February. The person with him at Ocean Park had entered the United States from China on Nov. 26.
Zhou faces up to four years in prison.
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Vandenberg’s host unit, Space Launch Delta 30, supports West Coast launch activities for the Air Force, Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the military base.