Federal Authorities Arrest Chinese National for Suspected Drone Flight Over Vandenberg Space Force Base

U.S. federal agents detained a Chinese national on December 9, who is suspected of operating a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and capturing images of SpaceX rocket pads during a sensitive national reconnaissance payload launch.

Yinpiao Zhou, 39, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport just prior to boarding a flight to China, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

He is expected to have his initial court appearance in San Francisco on Tuesday, according to spokesman Ciaran McEvoy.

A criminal complaint was filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on November 30 in federal court located in Santa Barbara County. Zhou faces charges for failing to register a drone and for violations related to national defense airspace, as outlined in the legal documents.

Some sections of the complaint have been redacted.

According to the court documents, federal agents assert that Zhou visited Ocean Park, situated near Vandenberg Space Force Base, on November 30 and piloted a drone over the installation.

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SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, operates two launch pads at the base, from which its Falcon 9 rockets are launched multiple times each year.

Recently, SpaceX was awarded a contract by the U.S. Space Force to conduct nine national security missions as part of the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 program, as announced on October 18.

Federal agents have claimed that Zhou operated his drone over the base, capturing images of sensitive military areas for a duration of 59 minutes on that day, as stated in the legal documents.

The drone was equipped with an SD card, a type of data storage device, as noted in the court documentation.

“An examination of the Drone SD Card revealed numerous photographs of [the base] taken from an aerial perspective,” federal officials mentioned in the criminal complaint.

Data retrieved from the images confirmed they were captured on November 30 from above the base, according to federal officials.

Additional analysis of Zhou’s cellphone was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Federal agents indicated that Zhou searched Google for “Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules” on December 8, as stated in the legal documents.

Furthermore, the phone included a WeChat message discussion involving a WeChat user suspected of being connected to Zhou, according to federal officials. WeChat is a Chinese social media and messaging platform.

In these conversations on October 21 and October 22, the discussions reportedly revolved around photos Zhou claimed to have taken with his drone.

Flight operations over the base are regulated as restricted airspace due to national security concerns.

Allegedly, Zhou admitted to federal agents that he had downloaded software for his drone that facilitated bypassing national security altitude restrictions.

Moreover, a federal agent conveyed that Zhou recognized that photographing the SpaceX facility at the base was “probably not a good idea,” according to the court documentation.

According to regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration, any drone weighing over .55 pounds must be registered. Zhou is alleged to have used a DJI Mavic 2 drone, weighing approximately 2 pounds, as per a federal FAA special agent.

Concerns have also been raised about unidentified drones hovering over other U.S. military sites in the past two months, alarming officials.

“I stand with thousands of New Jersey residents in sharing concerns over the emerging issues regarding drones operating in our airspace,” Kean stated in a press release. “The safety and privacy of our residents must be prioritized, and right now, both are at risk.”

Kean urged the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other federal entities to allocate more resources to investigate and resolve the intensifying situation.