Chinese national accused of flying drone over important US military and NASA rocket launch site and capturing images

Last month, federal prosecutors revealed that a Chinese national residing in Los Angeles had allegedly operated a drone to capture aerial footage of Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Yinpiao Zhou, 39, was apprehended at San Francisco International Airport as he was about to board a flight to China. The Justice Department stated that he faces charges for not registering the aircraft for transportation and for breaching the airspace of a national defense installation.

On Nov. 30, drone detections systems at the military installation in Santa Barbara County detected a drone flying over the base, prosecutors said. 

An autonomous AV8 drone. (KVUE)

Following the drone’s retrieval, authorities discovered multiple images of the base taken from an aerial vantage point. Additionally, an examination of Zhou’s phone exhibited that he had recently searched for “Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules” on Google and communicated with another individual regarding altering his drone to surpass its normal altitude limitations.

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. 

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.