AXIOS
Balloons have some advantages over satellites when it comes to surveillance, but also carry different risks — as Beijing recently learned when the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon flying in U.S. airspace earlier this month.
Why it matters: The U.S. and China are now embroiled in a deepening dispute over high-altitude balloons that is threatening to further derail the bilateral relationship.
Driving the news: China’s foreign ministry on Monday accused the U.S. of sending high-altitude balloons “illegally” into Chinese airspace more than 10 times since last year.
- U.S. officials deny this. “Any claim that the U.S. government operates surveillance balloons over the PRC (People’s Republic of China) is false,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.
Between the lines: The paths of high-altitude balloons are largely governed by winds. As they climb through the troposphere — where most weather occurs — they’re buffeted by west-to-east prevailing winds.
- Those winds make it relatively easy for China to launch balloons that would fly above the U.S., but much harder for the U.S. to fly balloons over China.
- “Where are you launching them from? That gets left out of this a lot,” James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells Axios.
- “Taiwan? Winds don’t blow that way. Korea? Winds don’t blow that way. Japan? You could do it if you didn’t mind a bunch of them going off course. You could do it, but I think the Chinese are either confused or making this up.”
How it works: U.S. spy satellites were developed after high-altitude balloons and aircraft began to be targeted in enemy airspace.
- Satellites can provide exquisite imagery and collect signals — from communications systems and other technology — but they are relatively easy to track, even by amateurs on the ground.
- High-altitude balloons, however, can gather high-resolution images and signals, and fly in a part of airspace that make them relatively difficult to track. Balloons are also able to stay over one area for a longer time than a satellite.
Yes, but: The norms that govern spying in space and airspace, where high-altitude balloons fly, are different.
- The difference between…
