(Credit: SpaceX)
The FBI has arrested a Chinese citizen for using a DJI drone to film a SpaceX rocket launch of Starlink satellites and spy satellites for the US government.
Yinpiao Zhou, 39, allegedly flew the drone around Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California on Nov. 30, the same day a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from the site.
The Falcon 9 rocket carried 20 Starlink satellites and a batch of secretive spy satellites for the US National Reconnaissance Office, which has reportedly contracted with SpaceX’s Starshield business to develop the satellite constellation.
According to an FBI affidavit, Zhou traveled to Ocean Park, a publicly accessible park adjacent to VSFB, and then flew a DJI Mavic 2 drone to take images of the facility. However, military personnel detected the drone within Vandenberg’s restricted airspace in the early morning of Nov. 30. The drone was in flight for about 59 minutes and flew around the base’s Space Launch Complexes Three and Four, which hosted the Falcon 9 rocket launch.
“Investigators traveled to the park, contacted Zhou and another individual...and found that Zhou had the drone...inside his jacket,” the affidavit says.
When first approached by military personnel in Ocean Park, Zhou allegedly lied and said he saw a drone but not its pilot.
Later, "during a Mirandized interview with FBI agents, Zhou admitted he flew his drone from the park to take photographs of VSFB,” the affidavit says. “Zhou further admitted that he had downloaded specific software onto the drone to bypass the drone’s built-in restrictions to prevent it from taking off and flying in no-fly zones. Zhou further admitted that he knew taking photographs of the space contractor facility at VSFB was ‘probably not a good idea.’”
Investigators also secured a warrant to search his phone, which showed Zhou had searched the term “Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules.” Zhou also admitted to flying from China to the US, most recently in February, on an immigrant visa as a permanent resident.
While questioning Zhou, military personnel ordered and watched him delete the recorded footage from his drone, which was later confiscated, along with his phone and a camera he also used to film the rocket launch.
Zhou was scheduled to return to China on Dec. 9, but law enforcement arrested him at San Francisco International Airport before he boarded a flight.
He’s since been charged with failing to register his drone with the FAA and violating national defense airspace. As a result, he faces a maximum penalty of four years in prison. Federal investigators haven’t revealed much about the second man Zhou was traveling with, but say he most recently entered the US from China on Nov. 26.