A powerful spy satellite created by China

 China creates powerful spy satellite capable of seeing facial details from more than 60 MILES away     

As you're walking along the street, China's newest surveillance technology could soon be watching you, from space. Scientists in China have created a satellite with laser-imaging technology powerful enough to capture human facial details from more than 63 miles (100 km's) away. It means the spy camera could potentially be in space aboard a floating satellite while clearly seeing faces of people on Earth's surface. It could also take high-resolution images of foreign military satellites operated by other nations that are also orbiting Earth, as reported. The technology, detailed by the scientists in a new paper, could be launched aboard a satellite in the near future.  

New laser-based imaging technology is reportedly capable of capturing mm resolution from over 60 miles away. This breakthrough represents a performance increase of 100 times or more compared to leading spy cameras and traditional telescopes. But, unsurprisingly, the powerful laser-based system has sparked worries. Amongst a broad gamut of potential applications, the technology could allow operators to survey foreign satellites to a previously impossible level of detail. The researchers at China’s Academy of Sciences’ Aerospace Information Research Institute outlined their findings in a new study published in the Chinese Journal of Lasers. Robert Morton, author and member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO), called it a 'massive security concern'. 'Millimeter resolution from 60+ miles up? That’s next-level surveillance,' he said. It means the spy camera could potentially be floating in space aboard a satellite while clearly seeing faces on Earth's surface. The scientists conducted a test across Qinghai Lake in the northwest of the country with a new system based on synthetic aperture lidar (SAL), a type of laser radar capable of constructing two-dimensional or three-dimensional images.

Chinese scientists' laser-based system could reportedly spy on Earth and scrutinise foreign military satellites with unparalleled precision. Meanwhile, Julia Aymonier, head of digital transformation at API, posted to LinkedIn: 'Big Brother is watching you!' She added: 'The future of space-based surveillance is here, and it's more powerful than we imagined.' And Natallia Catarina, CEO at Beam Wallet, said: 'Now only clouds will save us from Chinese spies.' This is a huge leap forward from previous milestones, like a 2011 test conducted by defence firm Lockheed Martin which was able to achieve an azimuth resolution of 0.79 inches (2 cm's) from only 1 mile (1.6 km) away, or a Chinese test where scientists achieved a then-best 1.97 inch (5 cm) resolution at a distance of 4.3 miles (6.9 km).

The spy camera has been newly developed by China’s Academy of Sciences’ Aerospace Information Research Institute in Beijing. It uses a system called synthetic aperture lidar (SAL), a remote sensing technology that sends out a pulse of light energy and then records the amount of that energy reflected back. Capable of operating day and night, SAL creates 2D and 3D reconstructions of surfaces of the Earth in various weather conditions. Because it relies on optical waves, it's capable of creating imagery with much finer resolution and better detail, described as a 'quantum leap'. Synthetic aperture lidar (SAL) is an imaging technique used for Earth observation. SAL allows high-resolution imaging beyond the diffraction limit of conventional optics. It is based on the same concept as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) which uses radar (radio waves). However, SAL uses lasers at optical wavelengths, instead of the microwaves used in SAR. SAL relies on the motion of an object (like a satellite) to provide finer resolution images than other, beam-scanning radar imagery systems. Previous SAR systems have relied on microwave radiation, which has longer wavelengths, which results in lower resolution images. However, this new system operates at optical wavelengths, which have much shorter wavelengths than microwaves and produce clearer images (though microwaves are better for penetrating into materials, because their longer wavelengths aren’t scattered or absorbed as easily). During the test, which targeted arrays of reflective prisms placed 63.3 miles (101.8 km) away from the lidar system, the device detected details as small as 0.07 inches (1.7 mm's) and measured distances to within 0.61 inches (15.6 mm).

The experts conducted a successful test across Qinghai Lake in China's northwest, with the SAL device on one side and the target 63.2 miles (101.8km) away. To achieve this latest breakthrough, the Chinese team split the laser-beam driving the lidar system across a 4x4 micro-lens array, which in turn expanded the system’s optical aperture, the opening that controls the amount of light entering a camera system, from 0.68 to 2.71 inches (17.2 mm to 68.8 mm). In this way, researchers could bypass the trade-off of field of vision versus size of aperture, which has historically restricted such camera systems. They achieved 'exceptional' imaging clarity at this distance, which is around about where the boundary of space starts. SAL needs the motion of an object, such as a moving satellite in orbit, to get images with finer resolution. So the spy camera would need to be mounted on a satellite of China's or even its Tiangong Space Station, the rival to the ISS launched in 2021. Tiangong is moving at 17,000 miles per hour while in low Earth orbit, between 210 and 280 miles (340 and 450km) above our planet's surface. It’s important to note that testing took place during near perfect weather and atmospheric conditions with steady wind and limited cloud cover. Inclement weather or other impairments to visibility could significantly impact the system’s precision and reliability.

China already operates around 300 other surveillance satellites in lower orbits, according to the Centre for Strategic & International Studies. Yaogan-41, launched in December 2023, gives China the ability to 'identify and track car-sized objects throughout the entire Indo-Pacific region'. It's unclear when the world's most powerful spy camera could be launched: MailOnline has contacted the researchers for more information. The researchers outline their work further in a new study published in the Chinese Journal of Lasers. China has previously raised US concerns through its use of 'spy balloons', which the Asian country has insisted are simply devices for monitoring the weather. China's government has come under increasing scrutiny for high-tech surveillance, from facial recognition-enabled security cameras to apps used by police to extract personal information from smartphones at checkpoints. China is famous for tracking its citizens using the latest technology, notably a Black Mirror-like social rating system to 'restore morality' and blacklist 'untrustworthy' citizens. It also reportedly developed an AI which can read the minds of Communist Party members by analysing facial expressions and brain waves.