A damaged U.S. aircraft at a U.S. air base in Saudi Arabia, following an attack by Iranian forces [Reuters Yonhap News]

Iran utilized Chinese satellites to bomb U.S. military bases in the Middle East, the Financial Times (FT) reported on the 14th (local time).

According to the report, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force secretly acquired the high-resolution surveillance satellite TEE-01B from a Chinese company in late 2024, and recently used it to precisely strike U.S. military bases during the war and confirm the extent of the damage.

The FT explained that these circumstances were revealed through its own compilation of the satellite's hourly coordinate setting lists, captured images, and orbital analysis results.

It appears that the satellite photographed Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of last month.

Five U.S. Air Force refueling aircraft were damaged at Prince Sultan Base on the 14th of last month due to an Iranian airstrike.

The satellite also monitored U.S. military assets in Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, and Djibouti, as well as civilian infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

TEE-01B was manufactured and launched by Beijing Mumeixingkong (Earth Eye Co.), a Chinese company.

This satellite is an export model that is little-known externally, launched from China and transferred to an overseas customer after reaching orbit.

It is understood that the IRGC gained access to civilian ground control stations in Asia and South America through the Chinese satellite control service company, Hangtian Yuxing (Emposat), as part of the contract when acquiring the satellite.

Nicole Grzybowski, an Iran expert at Sciences Po University in France, stated, "Given that it was operated by the IRGC Aerospace Force, it is clear that this is a satellite for military purposes, not civilian."

She explained, "Iran desperately needed foreign capacity support in this war, such as the IRGC pre-confirming targets and checking the success of strikes."

 A view of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, taken by satellite on February 21, before the outbreak of war. [Planet Labs/Reuters Yonhap News]

TEE-01B has a resolution of 0.5 meters, enabling it to represent objects on the ground measuring 50 cm by 50 cm as a single point in photographs.

This level of detail allows for accurate identification of changes in aircraft, vehicles, and facilities, and is more than 10 times superior to Iran's existing satellite, Nour-3 (5-meter resolution).

Military experts point out that the IRGC has enhanced its survivability and the destructive power of its attacks by having free access to surveillance satellites from Chinese companies.

Jim Ransom, a former analyst for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), described this as a "dispersal strategy for aerial assets," explaining, "Control centers within Iran are easily hit by missiles even from thousands of kilometers away, but China's ground control stations in other countries are not."

Ransom added, "Iran has personnel collecting information around U.S. military bases in the Middle East. Information obtained by humans becomes a powerful tool when combined with satellite intelligence."

Amidst escalating threats from the United States, Iran has been strengthening its military cooperation not only with China but also with Russia for a long time.

Russia has received Iranian suicide drone technology in the Ukraine war and has launched several Iranian satellites into orbit on its behalf in recent years.

While China emphasizes space development in the civilian sector, the fact that this technology can be utilized for both civilian and military purposes is becoming increasingly prominent.

Beijing Mumeixingkong stated on its website that it had transferred a satellite to a specific country as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Iran joined the BRI in 2021, a political and economic vision promoted by Chinese President Xi Jinping to expand China's global influence.

The Chinese government has dismissed the FT's allegations, stating it has no knowledge of any relationship between Hangtian Yuxing and the IRGC.

The Chinese Embassy in the United States stated, "We firmly oppose the parties concerned spreading groundless speculations and insinuations, and disinformation targeting China."