Canadian uses drone to illegally take photos of classified items on Florida base, feds say
For three days in a row, a Canadian man used a drone to illegally take aerial photos of classified complexes and equipment at a U.S. Space Force base in Florida, federal prosecutors said.
Xiao Guang Pan, 71, is charged with three counts of use of aircraft for the unlawful photographing of defense installation without authorization, according to a Feb. 13 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Pan, who’s in the U.S. on a tourist visa, flew a drone over Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Brevard County and photographed “vital” areas of the facility, prosecutors said.
He did so without permission from a commanding officer on Jan. 5, Jan. 6 and Jan. 7, according to court documents.
Information regarding Pan’s legal representation wasn’t listed in court records the afternoon of Feb. 14.
With his drone, Pan captured images of Space Launch complexes, military weapons bunkers, a payload processing facility and a submarine wharf, according to prosecutors.
These are classified and restricted areas of the base, a criminal information says.
Pan photographed a space launch complex and payload processing facility run by two defense contractors for the base on Jan. 5 and 6, according to the filing. On Jan. 7, he photographed a complex and military equipment operated by a third contractor, prosecutors said.
The three contractors weren’t identified in the documents.
Several companies, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which he founded in 2002, carry out operations at the base.
Pan was summoned to appear in federal court in Orlando on Feb. 14, after a judge granted a motion by the government, records show. Information on whether he appeared in court wasn’t immediately available.
The government wanted Pan to make his initial court appearance Feb. 14 to determine “appropriate conditions of release,” according to the filing.
Pan told the government that he “is suffering from recently emerging medical concerns” and needs to refill prescriptions ahead of March 11, the filing says. His doctor is in Canada.
If Pan is convicted of all three counts against him, he could face up to a year in prison on each count, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
McClatchy News contacted Space Launch Delta 45 for comment Feb. 14 and didn’t receive an immediate response. The Space Force unit manages military launch operations along the East Coast, including at Cape Canaveral.
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