Chinese spy balloon that traversed US airspace was packed with American tech: report

The Chinese balloon that sparked panic when it flew over the US two years ago was, as long suspected, set up to spy on Americans — but surprisingly with US-made technology, according to a new report.The 200-foot-tall balloon was loaded with a satellite communication module, sensors and other technology from at least five American firms, two sources with direct knowledge of a classified US military report told Newsweek.The craft — which floated from Alaska over Canada and into the US Midwest before it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb.

4, 2023 — could have collected detailed data on oblivious Americans, the sources said, citing what was discovered in parts of the recovered balloon.That included tech to survey, take photographs and collect other intelligence data — and even launchable gliders that could have flown on other recon missions, the sources said, citing the classified military report.“A Chinese company would not have given them a full satcom [satellite communications] coverage of the US,” one of the sources, a former federal intelligence employee, said.The technology matched a patent awarded in 2022 to scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Aerospace Information Innovation Research Institute in Beijing, which has links to China’s military, according to Newsweek, which said it was briefed on the report but did not see it directly.Included in the patent, titled “A high-altitude balloon safety control and positioning recovery device and method,” was a short-burst messaging module called Iridium 9602, Newsweek reported.Module maker Iridium is a global satellite communications provider whose command post is in McLean, Va.

— mere miles from CIA headquarters, the report noted.The balloon also had a communications system by Iridum, along with tech from four other US companies: Texas Instruments, Omega Engineering, Amphenol All Sensors Corporation and onsemi, the report said, noting other equipment from at least ...