Hundreds of Chinese satellites spying on US-Australia military exercises

China deployed a swarm of surveillance satellites to spy on two significant military training operations involving the United States and Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. During the recently concluded Exercise Talisman Sabre, China is said to have deployed hundreds of its satellites over Australia to gather intelligence.

Among these satellites was China's Shiyan 12-01, manoeuvring strategically beneath the equator to keep a watch on the joint war games between the US and Australia. Additionally, satellites like Shijian-17 and Shijian-23 were observed moving eastward to cover various zones where the military exercises took place.

Vigilance over ‘Exercise Malabar’

In addition to spying on Exercise Talisman Sabre, China's surveillance satellites are also tracking the ongoing Exercise Malabar, a naval training programme.

Over 300 satellites are reportedly engaged in monitoring these activities, accumulating a total of more than 3,000 flight hours since the commencement of Exercise Malabar on August 10.

According to James Bennett, an official from EOS Space Systems, who spoke with ABC, there is significant ground surveying activity by China. “We’ve been collecting optical surveillance data on Earth observing Chinese satellites during the Talisman Sabre and Malabar exercises and what that’s showing is quite a lot of activity surveying the ground during those events,” Bennett told ABC News.

Expanding presence in space

China's reported recent surge in satellite-based espionage signifies its expanding influence in space. Just this month, China successfully launched its maiden geosynchronous orbit synthetic aperture radar satellite, further cementing its position in space technology.

US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall reportedly said China is capable of putting "weapons in space". CEO of the Space Industry Association James Brown reportedly said,“It’s also about dominating space."

“Space is often viewed as the next frontier of conflict and China is staking a claim to it early," he added.

Watch | Has China's growth story hit a roadblock?

Richard McGregor from the Lowy Institute told The Project,“It’s pretty unsurprising that China is spying on us."

“Countries like China, with the capability that they have, they use any means they have," he said and added,“Satellites are obviously a much better way of picking up intelligence and a ship off the coast. So it’s not surprising to me that this is happening, but it’s interesting to read the detail about it.”

WATCH WION LIVE HERE