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3 weeks ago
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As you're walking along the street, China's newest surveillance technology could soon be watching you – from space.
Scientists in Beijing have created 'the world's most powerful spy camera' which can pick out facial details from distances exceeding 63 miles (100km).
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, the South China Morning Post reported.
The technology, detailed by the scientists in a new paper, could be launched aboard a satellite in the near future.
But, unsurprisingly, the powerful laser-based system has sparked worries.
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 in a post on X (Twitter).
Scientists in Beijing have created 'the world's most powerful spy camera' which can pick out facial details from distances exceeding 63 miles (100km). It means the spy camera could potentially be floating in space aboard a satellite while clearly seeing faces on Earth's surface. Pictured is China's Tiangong Space Station
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.'
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'.
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.
The experts conducted a successful test across the huge Qinghai Lake in the north-west of China
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
What is SAL?
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.
Source: Perdue University
They achieved 'exceptional' imaging clarity at this distance, as reported by South China Morning Post, which is around about where the boundary of space starts.
Alarmingly, the device detected details as small as 0.07 inches (1.7mm) and measured distances to within 0.61 inches (15.6mm).
Live Science points out that 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.
China already operates around 300 other surveillance satellites in lower orbits, according to the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
For example, 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.
This image shows the targets at one end of the lake top left (spelling out 'AIR') and their SAL imaging result (top right). Bottom, a scene showing the placement of six pyramids and the SAL imaging result
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 that can read the minds of Communist Party members by analysing facial expressions and brain waves.
The spy drone lurking above our heads: British-built solar powered aircraft can quietly cruise through the stratosphere for months
It looks like a cross between a toy airplane and a drone, but this British solar-powered aircraft could be the future of aerial surveillance.
PHASA-35, built by British company BAE Systems, is a 150kg solar-electric aircraft that can quietly cruise through the stratosphere for months at a time.
Named after its 35-metre wingspan, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) travels at a maximum height of 70,000 feet, at a leisurely speed of 55mph.
Designed as a cheaper and lighter alternative to satellites, it can be used for Earth observation and surveillance, border control, communications and disaster relief.
PHASA-35 has just completed a second round of test flights into the stratosphere – the second layer of Earth's atmosphere.
Launching from Spaceport America in New Mexico, it flew for 24 hours, climbing to more than 66,000 feet before completing a smooth landing.
PHASA-35 will be able to fly non-stop in the stratosphere for up to 20 months by 2026, offering a 'persistent and affordable alternative' to satellites.
