FT: Iran Used Chinese Spy Satellite To Attack US Bases

The equipment was purchased in secret.

Iran secretly acquired a Chinese intelligence satellite that provided the Islamic republic with a powerful new capability to attack U.S. military bases across the Middle East during the recent war. This is according to an investigation by the Financial Times.

Leaked Iranian military documents show that the satellite, known as TEE-01B, was acquired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Air and Space Force in late 2024 after it was launched into space from China.

It is noted that timestamped coordinate lists, satellite imagery and orbital analysis show: Iranian military commanders later tasked the satellite to monitor key US military installations. The images were taken in March before and after drone and missile strikes on those locations.

TEE-01B was built and launched by Earth Eye Co, a Chinese company that claims to offer "on-orbit delivery," a little-known export model in which spacecraft launched in China are transferred to overseas customers after entering orbit.

Surveillance logs show the satellite took images of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 13, 14 and 15. At the same time, US President Donald Trump confirmed on March 14 that US planes at the base had been hit. Five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were damaged.

The satellite also monitored Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and locations near the U.S. Fifth Fleet naval base in Manama, Bahrain, and Erbil Airport, Iraq, around the time of the KVIR attacks on targets in those areas that KVIR claimed.

Other areas observed by satellite included Camp Buring and Ali Al Salem air bases in Kuwait, the U.S. military base Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, and Duqm International Airport in Oman.

The Gulf civilian infrastructure under surveillance included the Khor Fakkan container port and the Kidfa power plant and desalination plant in the United Arab Emirates, as well as the Alba facility in Bahrain, one of the world's largest aluminum smelters, the media outlet said.

The company specifies on its website that the satellite was to be used for "agriculture, ocean monitoring, emergency management, natural resources surveillance and municipal transportation."

In September 2024, the KVIR Aerospace Force, which oversees Iran's ballistic missile, drone and spacecraft programs, agreed to pay about 250 million yuan ($36.6 million) to gain control of the satellite system, according to documents seen by the FT.

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