China's Space Program News Thread
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Re: china manned space - news and views
Not good..>>..however all nations that haved launched sattilites have had failures. Man made devices do break down. The Chinese will recover from this minor setback.
Not good..>>..however all nations that haved launched sattilites have had failures. Man made devices do break down. The Chinese will recover from this minor setback.
Re: china manned space - news and views
China Reveals Its First Full Map Of Moon Surface
by Staff Writers
Beijing (XNA) Nov 13, 2008
Chinese scientists revealed the country's first full map of the moon's surface on Wednesday, more than a year after the launch of its first lunar probe, Chang'e-1.
The picture of the moon surface, unveiled on Wednesday, covered the complete range of areas on the moon surface, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, which is in charge of the country's moon program.
Scientists created the map with the image data captured by the satellite-borne camera on the Chang'e-1, administration vice director Sun Laiyan told reporters.
It was the most complete image of the moon surface, and also the richest in detail, among similar pictures published so far, according to experts with the country's moon probe program.
The lunar probe was originally designed to cover the moon surface within 70 degrees south and north latitudes. However, the camera was in a good condition to get high-definition image data of the south and north poles of the moon as well.
The map was presented to the National Museum of China at the press conference, but the museum's curator did not say when it would be on public display.
"Chang'e-1 has completed its one-year operation and scientific exploration, and this marked the successful completion of the country's first-phase moon mission," said administration director Chen Qiufa.
Chen also said China planned to launch its second lunar probe, Chang'e-2, before the end of 2011.
The launch of Chang'e-1 in October last year was the first step of China's three-stage moon mission, and a moon landing and the launch of a moon rover at around 2012 was planned for the second stage.
In the third phase, another rover will land on the moon and return to earth with lunar soil and stone samples for scientific research at around 2017.
China Reveals Its First Full Map Of Moon Surface
by Staff Writers
Beijing (XNA) Nov 13, 2008
Chinese scientists revealed the country's first full map of the moon's surface on Wednesday, more than a year after the launch of its first lunar probe, Chang'e-1.
The picture of the moon surface, unveiled on Wednesday, covered the complete range of areas on the moon surface, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, which is in charge of the country's moon program.
Scientists created the map with the image data captured by the satellite-borne camera on the Chang'e-1, administration vice director Sun Laiyan told reporters.
It was the most complete image of the moon surface, and also the richest in detail, among similar pictures published so far, according to experts with the country's moon probe program.
The lunar probe was originally designed to cover the moon surface within 70 degrees south and north latitudes. However, the camera was in a good condition to get high-definition image data of the south and north poles of the moon as well.
The map was presented to the National Museum of China at the press conference, but the museum's curator did not say when it would be on public display.
"Chang'e-1 has completed its one-year operation and scientific exploration, and this marked the successful completion of the country's first-phase moon mission," said administration director Chen Qiufa.
Chen also said China planned to launch its second lunar probe, Chang'e-2, before the end of 2011.
The launch of Chang'e-1 in October last year was the first step of China's three-stage moon mission, and a moon landing and the launch of a moon rover at around 2012 was planned for the second stage.
In the third phase, another rover will land on the moon and return to earth with lunar soil and stone samples for scientific research at around 2017.
bladerunner
Banned Idiot
Re: china manned space - news and views
I could be getting mixed up here, but haven,t they had trouble with that model of satellite on previous launches for themselves?
I could be getting mixed up here, but haven,t they had trouble with that model of satellite on previous launches for themselves?
Schumacher
Senior Member
Re: china manned space - news and views
Correct, they had one of the same model launched for their own use, also had issues with the solar panel that failed to deploy. Never even got to geostationary orbit.
Correct, they had one of the same model launched for their own use, also had issues with the solar panel that failed to deploy. Never even got to geostationary orbit.
bladerunner
Banned Idiot
Re: china manned space - news and views
Unfortunately it would make it three in a row of the same type of satellite if the Venezuelen satellite was to fail. Not good for cost effectiveness on the part of any country considering the Chinese option for launching that particular satellite, as the insurance premiums would increase with continuous failures?
Unfortunately it would make it three in a row of the same type of satellite if the Venezuelen satellite was to fail. Not good for cost effectiveness on the part of any country considering the Chinese option for launching that particular satellite, as the insurance premiums would increase with continuous failures?
bladerunner
Banned Idiot
Re: china manned space - news and views
Peter Brown writing in the atimes.com
commenting on Chinas satellite failures he suggests as a possibility that........
one cannot rule out entirely another troubling dimension of this pair of satellite failures. It raises the question that the Long March 3B rockets used to launch both satellites may provide a shaky ride that is more than the satellites can handle and contributed greatly to the unsuccessful outcome in both cases. There is no firm evidence of this connection, but again, it must be included in the overall assessment.
nor did I think that NIGCOMSAT-1's was flawed from the outset..........The BBC, for example, was already reporting that they had been in touch with a consulting engineer who cast the entire NIGCOMSAT-1 project in a very negative light
"This has been a real debacle from day one [in 2004]," he said, and went to claim that the design of the satellite was not matched properly to signal reception requirements on the ground. He said the satellite's frequency allocation meant that it was guaranteed from the start to interfere with ongoing satellite transmissions involving other satellites serving the same region, and with receivers already installed for existing customers in Nigeria months, if not years, earlier.
Gee things just aren't going China's way. I wonder if there's some inherent weakness in their approach right from educational level which is causing them to have these problems.
Anyway just finishing listening to the BBC interviewing Peter Morici a professor in economics/business at Maryland University, and a frequent contributor to .'atimes.com' where he is a fierce critic on China, make a suggestion that China's Products were relatively unsophisticated, for eg 'after all these years they cant even make a car on their own'.So I Guess he wouldn't be surprised that Chinese satellites weren't working very well.
Peter Brown writing in the atimes.com
commenting on Chinas satellite failures he suggests as a possibility that........
one cannot rule out entirely another troubling dimension of this pair of satellite failures. It raises the question that the Long March 3B rockets used to launch both satellites may provide a shaky ride that is more than the satellites can handle and contributed greatly to the unsuccessful outcome in both cases. There is no firm evidence of this connection, but again, it must be included in the overall assessment.
nor did I think that NIGCOMSAT-1's was flawed from the outset..........The BBC, for example, was already reporting that they had been in touch with a consulting engineer who cast the entire NIGCOMSAT-1 project in a very negative light
"This has been a real debacle from day one [in 2004]," he said, and went to claim that the design of the satellite was not matched properly to signal reception requirements on the ground. He said the satellite's frequency allocation meant that it was guaranteed from the start to interfere with ongoing satellite transmissions involving other satellites serving the same region, and with receivers already installed for existing customers in Nigeria months, if not years, earlier.
Gee things just aren't going China's way. I wonder if there's some inherent weakness in their approach right from educational level which is causing them to have these problems.
Anyway just finishing listening to the BBC interviewing Peter Morici a professor in economics/business at Maryland University, and a frequent contributor to .'atimes.com' where he is a fierce critic on China, make a suggestion that China's Products were relatively unsophisticated, for eg 'after all these years they cant even make a car on their own'.So I Guess he wouldn't be surprised that Chinese satellites weren't working very well.
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Re: china manned space - news and views
I have another theory why the satellite failed. Interesting that it happened soon after this.
China does a lot of business in Africa not with dollars but in real trades. Generally resources for infrastructure. I read earlier in the year Nigeria cancelled another deal and gave it to South Korea. China built the satellite. So naturally they can turn it off.
I have another theory why the satellite failed. Interesting that it happened soon after this.
China does a lot of business in Africa not with dollars but in real trades. Generally resources for infrastructure. I read earlier in the year Nigeria cancelled another deal and gave it to South Korea. China built the satellite. So naturally they can turn it off.
Engineer
Major
Re: china manned space - news and views
Components of a satellite are tested on shakers that can create shocks up to a few thousand G's (depending on the size of the shaker). Once assembled, the entire satellite is tested for shock resistance again using gigantic subwoofers. This is standard practice. Problems due to vibration would have been encountered then, or immediately after the launch, not after more than one year of service.
bladerunner
Banned Idiot
Re: china manned space - news and views
Commenting on Chinas technology spying for its space efforts
Chinese rocket fuel lands US scientist in jail
By Peter J Brown
China is looking forward to many accomplishments in space over the coming decade, while Shu Quan-Sheng, the physicist and corporate executive from Virginia arrested in September for selling American space technology to Beijing, is looking at up to 25 years in prison.
Shu faces 10 years in jail and a fine of $1 million for each of two violations of the Arms Export Control Act, and a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when he is sentenced next April.
From 2003 to 2007 he provided China with "assistance in the design and development of a cryogenic fueling system for space launch vehicles to be used at the heavy payload launch facility located in the southern island province of Hainan", according to a US Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.
Hainan Island is where China will soon start constructing its first coastal rocket launch facility, known as the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center (Wenchang SLC). Larger and far closer to the equator than any other launch site in China, it will be well suited for launching large satellites into geosynchronous orbit, in which the satellite maintains its relative position to the earth as the earth rotates.
In January 2007, the Chinese awarded a $4 million hydrogen liquefier project at the Wenchang SLC to a French company that Shu represented.
When this facility is completed, it will replace the Xichang SLC as China's primary launch facility for large satellites heading into geosynchronous orbit, as well as other large spacecraft. Xichang SLC will then be scaled back to play a backup role. China has two other launch centers, the Jiuquan SLC, also called the Shuang Cheng Tzu Missile and Space Test Center, and the Taiyuan SLC, also called the Wuzhai Missile and Space Test Center.
In early November, the People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, reported the feasibility study of Wenchang SLC had recently been approved by the Chinese government, and that construction was planned to start soon. It described the facility as "the first Chinese launch center completely open to the world … a site for extensive international cooperation … one of the top three spaceports in the world".
DOJ further stated that, "Shu has been involved in the PRC's [People's Republic of China] systematic effort to upgrade their space exploration and satellite technology capabilities by providing technical expertise and foreign technology acquisition in the fields of cryogenic pumps, valves, transfer lines and refrigeration equipment, components critical for the use of liquefied hydrogen in a launch facility. Shu has also been instrumental in arranging for PRC officials to visit various European space launch facilities and hydrogen production/storage facilities."
Shu is a native of China, a naturalized US citizen, and, president, secretary and treasurer of the Virginia-based AMAC International Inc (AMAC), which has offices in China. He is described on the AMAC website as an "an expert in Cryogenics, Superconducting Radio Frequency cavities and Superconducting magnets. He is currently a Board Member for the International Institute of Refrigeration, Sub-Program Chairman of the US Applied Superconductivity Conference …"
The AMAC web site describes the company as "operating at the cutting edge of technology. Based on AMAC's excellent accomplishments in Research & Development of Superconducting RF Power Technologies, Magnetic Levitation and Cryogenics in space, AMAC has been awarded more than $2 million in innovative research grants from the US Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
"AMAC's other research and development interests include: applications of nanotubes and shape memory alloys. We also enjoy providing technical consultation and project management to various institutes."
The fact that AMAC was eager and willing to do a brisk business in China was spelled out in a company press release, which stated, "AMAC decided to add an International Department that would focus on helping manufacturers export their products to Asian [sic]. With this new addition, AMAC represents more than 17 companies and welcomes any new opportunities. Due to our success in producing sales for our clients, AMAC opened a branch office in Beijing and has representatives in many cities throughout China. Our Beijing Office allows AMAC to better serve our customers."
According to Rick Fisher, senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington, DC, the information Shu provided to China appears to have been extremely valuable to the new Long March CZ-5 heavy space launch vehicle program.
"If this is true, then the technology that Shu [passed along to China] would have eventually aided China's future space station and manned moon exploration programs," said Fisher.
One of the reasons for China's downgrading of Xichang is that big rockets like the CZ-5, which is designed to carry very heavy payloads, cannot be transported easily there by truck or by rail. Wenchang SLC, being on the coast, has no such problem.
Several Chinese agencies are identified in DOJ's criminal complaint, including the People's Liberation Army's General Armaments Department and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology's 101st Research Institute (101 Institute). Ultimately, all the arrows point to the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for the National Defense.
Also named is the Beijing Special Engineering Design Research Institute, which oversees procurement of cryogenic liquid storage tanks for the Wenchang SLC.
"Shu's efforts include the successful brokering of a January 2007 contract between the PRC's 101 Institute and a French company for the production and supply of a 600 liter per hour hydrogen liquefier. This liquefier will be part of the 101 Institute's comprehensive research, development, and test base for liquid-propelled engines and space vehicle components, and at the time, the liquefier represented the first in as many as five additional projects to be undertaken by AMAC and the French company, all to be used as ground-based support for the launch vehicles at the Hainan launch facility," stated DOJ.
Thanks to Shu, China also obtained a document in 2003 entitled, "Commercial Information, Technical Proposal and Budgetary Officer - Design, Supply, Engineering, Fabrication, Testing & Commissioning of 100-m3 Liquid Hydrogen Tank and Various Special Cryogenic Pumps, Valves, Filters and Instruments" which DOJ describes as containing "controlled military technical data".
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters that "sheer nonsense" or "sheer fabrication" is the best way to describe any allegations of Chinese espionage in the United States.
"It appears that Shu didn't 'steal' American technology for the Chinese, but instead helped them acquire European technology through a business transaction that involved bribes and skirting the arms control laws. And he was charged with using his personal knowledge to assist the Chinese in this," said Brian Weedon, a technical consultant with the Quebec-based Secure World Foundation.
Weedon anticipates that this story will be spun by the media in the US, "as yet another attempt by the 'evil' Chinese to acquire technology which could be used militarily against the US, even though these sorts of shady business transactions occur very often and by many countries all over the world.
"It is one thing to have arms control laws in place to prevent the spread and acquisition of strictly military technologies. But it is another to try and prevent the spread of dual-use technology that is essential to peaceful uses of outer space, including large-scale manned space," said Weedon. "And it appears that this liquid fuel technology fits into that category."
Fisher views the Shu case quite differently.
"This is the latest in a long line of espionage cases that illustrate the dangers of cooperating with China in space without there even being a program to do so," said Fisher. "In some quarters in Washington, there is significant but blind enthusiasm for jumping into space suits with China in the unfounded expectation that China shares our goals and values for future of space exploration and utilization - or can be convinced of such. China's space programs are controlled by its military and military goals are their primary motivator."
Fisher asserts that as long as this is the case, "all American space technology to which China may gain access in the course of cooperation will be applied to China's military space programs whenever possible".
Fisher wants to send a strong message to both the US government and Chinese-Americans. He is touching on a very sensitive subject indeed, something Fisher describes as "a conflict that goes back to the early era of America's space program".
"This community has made enormous contributions to America's high technology advancement which should be acknowledged gratefully," said Fisher. "But there must be put in place a program of outreach, led by our highest elected officials, which makes clear that love of homeland and heritage must not be confused with aiding the power of a communist party that ultimately threatens the freedoms which has made their success possible."
While Fisher's recommendations may seem extreme to some readers, there is little doubt that the Chinese espionage apparatus is in high gear with respect to acquiring rocket and satellite technology secrets, in particular from the US. Whether he is a Chinese spy or not, Shu is the latest on a long list of significant arrests over the past year or so.
And the pattern suggests that Chinese agents and their supporters are very adept at getting what they want - sometimes waiting several years to accomplish their delicate missions.
The US can just look at a string of recent cases like Shu's, Chi Mak's, Dongfan Chung's and Gregg Bergersen's, for example, to see the challenge that confronts it.
"Chi Mak acknowledged that he had been placed in the United States [specifically in the high tech sector in California] more than 20 years earlier, in order to burrow into the defense-industrial establishment to steal secrets," Joel Brenner, the head of counterintelligence for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told the Washington Post in an interview last spring. "It speaks of deep patience."
Mak was sentenced in April to more than 20 years in prison by a federal judge
A Boeing employee, Dongfan Chung, was arrested last winter and charged with providing classified information to the Chinese about space shuttle and rocket technology.
At almost exactly the same time, Gregg Bergersen, a Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) analyst, was arrested for passing classified data about US military sales to Kuo Tai-sheng, who was also arrested along with a third person. Kuo had quickly given this information to the Chinese. Whether or not Kuo may have been on the trail of more sensitive satellite-related information given Bergersen's previous work on various US Navy command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) projects in the early 2000s - prior to his arrival at DSCA - is unclear.
Peter J Brown is a satellite journalist from Maine, USA.
(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings)
Commenting on Chinas technology spying for its space efforts
Chinese rocket fuel lands US scientist in jail
By Peter J Brown
China is looking forward to many accomplishments in space over the coming decade, while Shu Quan-Sheng, the physicist and corporate executive from Virginia arrested in September for selling American space technology to Beijing, is looking at up to 25 years in prison.
Shu faces 10 years in jail and a fine of $1 million for each of two violations of the Arms Export Control Act, and a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act when he is sentenced next April.
From 2003 to 2007 he provided China with "assistance in the design and development of a cryogenic fueling system for space launch vehicles to be used at the heavy payload launch facility located in the southern island province of Hainan", according to a US Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.
Hainan Island is where China will soon start constructing its first coastal rocket launch facility, known as the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center (Wenchang SLC). Larger and far closer to the equator than any other launch site in China, it will be well suited for launching large satellites into geosynchronous orbit, in which the satellite maintains its relative position to the earth as the earth rotates.
In January 2007, the Chinese awarded a $4 million hydrogen liquefier project at the Wenchang SLC to a French company that Shu represented.
When this facility is completed, it will replace the Xichang SLC as China's primary launch facility for large satellites heading into geosynchronous orbit, as well as other large spacecraft. Xichang SLC will then be scaled back to play a backup role. China has two other launch centers, the Jiuquan SLC, also called the Shuang Cheng Tzu Missile and Space Test Center, and the Taiyuan SLC, also called the Wuzhai Missile and Space Test Center.
In early November, the People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, reported the feasibility study of Wenchang SLC had recently been approved by the Chinese government, and that construction was planned to start soon. It described the facility as "the first Chinese launch center completely open to the world … a site for extensive international cooperation … one of the top three spaceports in the world".
DOJ further stated that, "Shu has been involved in the PRC's [People's Republic of China] systematic effort to upgrade their space exploration and satellite technology capabilities by providing technical expertise and foreign technology acquisition in the fields of cryogenic pumps, valves, transfer lines and refrigeration equipment, components critical for the use of liquefied hydrogen in a launch facility. Shu has also been instrumental in arranging for PRC officials to visit various European space launch facilities and hydrogen production/storage facilities."
Shu is a native of China, a naturalized US citizen, and, president, secretary and treasurer of the Virginia-based AMAC International Inc (AMAC), which has offices in China. He is described on the AMAC website as an "an expert in Cryogenics, Superconducting Radio Frequency cavities and Superconducting magnets. He is currently a Board Member for the International Institute of Refrigeration, Sub-Program Chairman of the US Applied Superconductivity Conference …"
The AMAC web site describes the company as "operating at the cutting edge of technology. Based on AMAC's excellent accomplishments in Research & Development of Superconducting RF Power Technologies, Magnetic Levitation and Cryogenics in space, AMAC has been awarded more than $2 million in innovative research grants from the US Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
"AMAC's other research and development interests include: applications of nanotubes and shape memory alloys. We also enjoy providing technical consultation and project management to various institutes."
The fact that AMAC was eager and willing to do a brisk business in China was spelled out in a company press release, which stated, "AMAC decided to add an International Department that would focus on helping manufacturers export their products to Asian [sic]. With this new addition, AMAC represents more than 17 companies and welcomes any new opportunities. Due to our success in producing sales for our clients, AMAC opened a branch office in Beijing and has representatives in many cities throughout China. Our Beijing Office allows AMAC to better serve our customers."
According to Rick Fisher, senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington, DC, the information Shu provided to China appears to have been extremely valuable to the new Long March CZ-5 heavy space launch vehicle program.
"If this is true, then the technology that Shu [passed along to China] would have eventually aided China's future space station and manned moon exploration programs," said Fisher.
One of the reasons for China's downgrading of Xichang is that big rockets like the CZ-5, which is designed to carry very heavy payloads, cannot be transported easily there by truck or by rail. Wenchang SLC, being on the coast, has no such problem.
Several Chinese agencies are identified in DOJ's criminal complaint, including the People's Liberation Army's General Armaments Department and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology's 101st Research Institute (101 Institute). Ultimately, all the arrows point to the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for the National Defense.
Also named is the Beijing Special Engineering Design Research Institute, which oversees procurement of cryogenic liquid storage tanks for the Wenchang SLC.
"Shu's efforts include the successful brokering of a January 2007 contract between the PRC's 101 Institute and a French company for the production and supply of a 600 liter per hour hydrogen liquefier. This liquefier will be part of the 101 Institute's comprehensive research, development, and test base for liquid-propelled engines and space vehicle components, and at the time, the liquefier represented the first in as many as five additional projects to be undertaken by AMAC and the French company, all to be used as ground-based support for the launch vehicles at the Hainan launch facility," stated DOJ.
Thanks to Shu, China also obtained a document in 2003 entitled, "Commercial Information, Technical Proposal and Budgetary Officer - Design, Supply, Engineering, Fabrication, Testing & Commissioning of 100-m3 Liquid Hydrogen Tank and Various Special Cryogenic Pumps, Valves, Filters and Instruments" which DOJ describes as containing "controlled military technical data".
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters that "sheer nonsense" or "sheer fabrication" is the best way to describe any allegations of Chinese espionage in the United States.
"It appears that Shu didn't 'steal' American technology for the Chinese, but instead helped them acquire European technology through a business transaction that involved bribes and skirting the arms control laws. And he was charged with using his personal knowledge to assist the Chinese in this," said Brian Weedon, a technical consultant with the Quebec-based Secure World Foundation.
Weedon anticipates that this story will be spun by the media in the US, "as yet another attempt by the 'evil' Chinese to acquire technology which could be used militarily against the US, even though these sorts of shady business transactions occur very often and by many countries all over the world.
"It is one thing to have arms control laws in place to prevent the spread and acquisition of strictly military technologies. But it is another to try and prevent the spread of dual-use technology that is essential to peaceful uses of outer space, including large-scale manned space," said Weedon. "And it appears that this liquid fuel technology fits into that category."
Fisher views the Shu case quite differently.
"This is the latest in a long line of espionage cases that illustrate the dangers of cooperating with China in space without there even being a program to do so," said Fisher. "In some quarters in Washington, there is significant but blind enthusiasm for jumping into space suits with China in the unfounded expectation that China shares our goals and values for future of space exploration and utilization - or can be convinced of such. China's space programs are controlled by its military and military goals are their primary motivator."
Fisher asserts that as long as this is the case, "all American space technology to which China may gain access in the course of cooperation will be applied to China's military space programs whenever possible".
Fisher wants to send a strong message to both the US government and Chinese-Americans. He is touching on a very sensitive subject indeed, something Fisher describes as "a conflict that goes back to the early era of America's space program".
"This community has made enormous contributions to America's high technology advancement which should be acknowledged gratefully," said Fisher. "But there must be put in place a program of outreach, led by our highest elected officials, which makes clear that love of homeland and heritage must not be confused with aiding the power of a communist party that ultimately threatens the freedoms which has made their success possible."
While Fisher's recommendations may seem extreme to some readers, there is little doubt that the Chinese espionage apparatus is in high gear with respect to acquiring rocket and satellite technology secrets, in particular from the US. Whether he is a Chinese spy or not, Shu is the latest on a long list of significant arrests over the past year or so.
And the pattern suggests that Chinese agents and their supporters are very adept at getting what they want - sometimes waiting several years to accomplish their delicate missions.
The US can just look at a string of recent cases like Shu's, Chi Mak's, Dongfan Chung's and Gregg Bergersen's, for example, to see the challenge that confronts it.
"Chi Mak acknowledged that he had been placed in the United States [specifically in the high tech sector in California] more than 20 years earlier, in order to burrow into the defense-industrial establishment to steal secrets," Joel Brenner, the head of counterintelligence for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told the Washington Post in an interview last spring. "It speaks of deep patience."
Mak was sentenced in April to more than 20 years in prison by a federal judge
A Boeing employee, Dongfan Chung, was arrested last winter and charged with providing classified information to the Chinese about space shuttle and rocket technology.
At almost exactly the same time, Gregg Bergersen, a Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) analyst, was arrested for passing classified data about US military sales to Kuo Tai-sheng, who was also arrested along with a third person. Kuo had quickly given this information to the Chinese. Whether or not Kuo may have been on the trail of more sensitive satellite-related information given Bergersen's previous work on various US Navy command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) projects in the early 2000s - prior to his arrival at DSCA - is unclear.
Peter J Brown is a satellite journalist from Maine, USA.
(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings)
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