Chinese AI turns commercial satellite into a spy tracker able to follow small objects with precision: paper
- Paper details team’s work creating artificial intelligence to continue tracking an object on the ground, even after it turns sharply or disappears into a tunnel
- The AI algorithm could be uploaded to processors on some of China’s Earth observation satellites already in orbit without any ground assistance: researchers
The difficulty in identifying an object using satellite video was highlighted in 2020 when Chinese space authorities released a video clip captured by Jilin-1, a small satellite, from an altitude of over 500km (310 miles) while chasing a cruising fighter jet.
The stealth aircraft, which appeared to be an F-22 according to some military experts, was nearly 20 metres (65 feet) long. With a smaller object, the commercial satellite’s camera, offering about 1-metre resolution, would generate just a few pixels of the target.
With fewer details in the image, it is more difficult to identify an object. And because each frame of the satellite video covered more than 10 square kilometres, a small target such as a car could blend into the surrounding environment or be confused with other vehicles, making it nearly impossible to track its movement from orbit.
A Chinese team said its new AI technology had achieved 95 per cent precision in locating an object when the Jilin-1 satellite streamed video of various moving small targets, including planes in the air and cars on the street.
Its success rate was nearly seven times higher than existing technology, according to Lin Cunbao of the People’s Liberation Army’s Space Engineering University in Beijing and his research colleagues in a paper published late last month in Fire Control and Command Control, a domestic peer-reviewed journal run by China’s state-owned defence industry.