Finally revealed: Contents inside Chinese spy balloon shot down over US

A Chinese spy balloon that floated across US before being shot down in February 2023 contained technology from at least five US companies, Newsweek has reported.

The findings have raised concerns about how American-made components ended up inside a foreign surveillance device.

Newsweek, citing sources familiar with US military technical analysis, reported that the balloon carried sophisticated surveillance equipment, including sensors and a satellite communication module, some of which was stored in a foam cooler.

Among the identified components was the Iridium 9602, a short-burst messaging module made by Virginia-based global satellite communications company Iridium.

The FBI declined to comment on the report when contacted by Fox News Digital.

The balloon entered US airspace over Alaska and traveled across the mainland before the military shot it down off the South Carolina coast on February 4, 2023.

While Beijing maintained that the device was a weather balloon, US intelligence agencies determined that it was, in fact, used for espionage purposes. Officials believe, however, that any intelligence gathered was not successfully transmitted back to China.

The discovery of American-made technology in the balloon has reignited concerns about the global supply chain and how US commercial components might end up in the hands of adversarial nations.

Iridium’s executive director for communications, Jordan Hassim, told Newsweek that the company does not support the unauthorized use of its products. “There’s no way for us to know what the use is of a specific module,” Hassim said. “For us, it could be a whale wearing a tag tracking it, it could be a polar bear, an explorer hiking a mountain.”

The revelation could lead to increased scrutiny of export policies and regulations surrounding dual-use technologies—commercially available products that can be repurposed for military or intelligence applications.

The Biden administration faced criticism for allowing the balloon to drift across the US before taking action. The military launched a major recovery operation, retrieving debris from the ocean and analyzing it to determine the balloon’s capabilities.

The discovery of US technology in the surveillance balloon will also add to ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing, which have clashed over issues such as espionage, cybersecurity and national security risks posed by Chinese-linked tech companies operating in US.