Chinese national pleads guilty to flying modified drone over and taking pictures of Vandenberg SFB
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Yinpiao Zhou, a Chinese national arrested for flying a modified drone and taking aerial photos of Vandenberg Space Force Base in December of last year, pleaded guilty to violating national defense airspace in U.S. District Court Monday.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, Zhou agreed to a plea agreement with their office and is currently scheduled for sentencing on April 7, 2025.
Zhou was initially charged with failing to register an aircraft that was not providing transportation and violation of national defense airspace on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, and ultimately pleaded guilty to his second charged count as part of the deal stated the plea agreement.
According to an affidavit filed alongside the federal criminal complaint, on Nov. 30, 2024, a drone detection system at Vandenberg Space Force Base detected a drone flying near the base.
The drone detection system recorded that the drone flew for almost one hour, traveled to an altitude of approximately one mile above ground level, and was launched from Ocean Park just south of the base stated the Department of Justice.
According to 49 U.S.C. 44809, unregistered recreational drone use prohibits flying higher than 400 feet above ground level as well as requires that recreational drone pilots maintain a line of sight of their aircraft.
The affidavit noted that on Nov. 30, a "sensitive payload developed for the National Reconnaissance Office had been launched to orbit".
Security personnel from Vandenberg went to the park and spoke with a man, later identified as 39-year-old Yinpiao Zhou, and another man who was accompanying him, and learned that the 39-year-old had a drone concealed inside of his jacket explained the Department of Justice.
The concealed drone was confirmed to have been the one that flew over the military installation stated the Department of Justice.
Zhou admitted during an interview with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he flew his drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base intentionally and had downloaded software onto the drone to "bypass the drone's built-in restrictions to prevent it from taking off and flying in no-fly zones" stated the affidavit.
According to the Department of Justice, the other man at Ocean Park was not charged and allowed to board a flight back to China from San Francisco International Airport that Zhou was ticketed to board before he was arrested.
Zhou is a Chinese citizen and lawful permanent resident who most recently returned to the United States from China on February 12, 2024, and the man who was with Zhou at Ocean Park most recently entered the country on a visitor visa on Nov. 26 explained the affidavit.
Agents with the FBI later searched the drone using a federal search warrant and discovered that several aerial photographs had been taken of Vandenberg Space Force Base and a search of Zhou's cellphone showed that a Google search had been made one month before the incident for the phrase, "Vandenberg Space Force Base Drone Rules" detailed the Department of Justice.
During an interview with the FBI, Zhou admitted that flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base was "probably not a good idea" detailed the affidavit.
