A 71-year-old Canadian tourist is facing several charges after allegedly using a drone to photograph classified U.S. defense installations.
Xiao Guang Pan is accused of taking aerial photographs of sensitive and vital military facilities and equipment in Brevard County, Florida on three separate days in January.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, the Canadian national illegally flew a drone over Patrick Space Force Base, a submarine wharf and a space launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base.
Pan — whose Instagram page describes him as a photographer and licensed drone pilot — took aerial photographs of a space launch complex and payload processing facility operated by two defense contractors on January 5 and 6.
On January 7, he captured images of another complex and military equipment run by a third contractor. The specific defense contractors were not identified in the court filing, although several companies, including SpaceX, maintain operations at the base.
Pan was charged earlier this week with three counts of using an unmanned aircraft to photograph the Brevard-based defense installations without authorization from federal officials.
Taking unauthorized photographs of vital defense installations or equipment is prohibited under federal law.
Prosecutors say Pan was in the U.S. on a tourist visa. If convicted, Pan faces a maximum penalty of one year in federal prison on each count.
No motives were ascribed to the flyovers in federal court documents filed in the case, according to Florida Today. Details of how the drone incursions were tracked and traced back to Pan were not immediately released.
These recent incidents come after a Chinese national was arrested for flying a drone over and taking photos of a U.S. Space Force base in December.
Yinpiao Zhou, a 39-year-old U.S. permanent resident who lives in Brentwood, California, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport as he waited to board a flight back to China.
According to a criminal complaint, the U.S. Justice Department says Zhou flew a drone over the base and took aerial photographs over the Vandenberg Space Base in California on November 30. He did this on the same day SpaceX launched a rocket on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
