A Chinese spy balloon caused alarm after it flew across the United States two years ago, likely collecting data on millions of Americans, but a new report points to American technology in the device rather than Chinese surveillance tech.
According to a new report by Newsweek, the 200-foot craft contained satellite communication modules and sensors from multiple U.S. companies, potentially enabling significant data collection on American infrastructure.
Sources told Newsweek that “The technology … matches that in a patent awarded in 2022 to scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Aerospace Information Innovation Research Institute in Beijing, which has links to China’s military and to its industrial defense base.”
“The patent included a short burst messaging module called Iridium 9602 made by Iridium, a global satellite communications provider based in McLean,…
