The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles is now investigating a Chinese national who was arrested and accused of flying a drone over the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Dec. 9 for more serious offenses.
Yinpiao Zhou had been apprehended by authorities at San Francisco International Airport just before boarding a flight to China, and his drone was seized. Zhou was not arrested at the time and was released.
The case was unsealed on Dec. 11, and the next day, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a motion against Zhou’s release, arguing that he was a flight risk.
In the filing, the federal attorneys said the government “is continuing to investigate whether Zhou engaged in additional, more serious offenses.”
He is currently charged with one felony and one misdemeanor count, which together have a maximum penalty of four years’ imprisonment. If convicted, he would be removed from the United States or barred from becoming a citizen.
Federal attorneys argued that Zhou’s actions were “brazen,” as he had done a search regarding photography of the Vandenberg Space Force Base and would have found that it was prohibited a month before allegedly doing just that. Zhou allegedly photographed the base during his first trip to the United States in 10 years and had a flight to return to China a week later.
“Zhou did not make a youthful mistake or mere accident,” the Dec. 12 court filing reads. “This was a planned scheme that risked exposing—and may have exposed—meaningful national security information through aerial photography of an air force base.”
SpaceX was selected by the U.S. Space Force to launch nine national security missions under its National Security Space Launch phase three program, the Space Force announced on Oct. 18.
According to a court filing, an SD card containing “several photographs of [the base] taken from an aerial viewpoint” was recovered from the drone Zhou flew over the base.
During Zhou’s Dec. 12 hearing, federal attorneys argued that his alleged crime was premeditated with a “degree of sophistication.”
“This type of crime is very difficult to detect,” federal attorney Galen Phillips said, adding that it was only because the Vandenberg Space Force Base had a drone detection technology system in use that the drone in Zhou’s possession was flagged.
Phillips said during the hearing that when Zhou was first approached, “he lied about who he thought the pilot of the drone was.”
The court initially released Zhou on bail with the condition that he turn in his drone and passport and stay away from military bases, and it stayed the order to allow federal attorneys to appeal.
District Judge Hernán Vera held a hearing on Dec. 16 over the request to deny bail and has not issued an order yet.
