Hundreds of Chinese satellites are apparently gathering crucial intelligence on the ongoing military exercises while warships from India, Japan, Australia, and the US are participating in high-tech warfare training in Australia as part of the Malabar Exercise 2023.

Commercial satellite data obtained by the ABC reveals the full scope of Beijing's monitoring of the recently concluded "Exercise Talisman Sabre" as well as the current naval drills known as "Exercise Malabar" off the coast of Sydney.

In July, three Chinese geostationary orbit satellites were detected monitoring the Talisman Sabre war games in northern Australia. Additionally, hundreds of smaller low-orbit satellites have been tracking the activity of warships around Sydney Harbour during Exercise Malabar.

Australian defense firm EOS Space Systems said that among those satellites was Beijing’s Shiyan 12-01, detected maneuvering into position below the equator to monitor US-Australia war games. Shijian-17 and Shijian-23 satellites were also tracked, drifting easterly to observe multiple areas where the military exercise was conducted.

“We’ve been collecting optical surveillance data on Earth observing Chinese satellites during the Talisman Sabre and Malabar exercises and what that’s showing is quite a lot of activity surveying the ground during those events,” EOS Space Systems official James Bennett told ABC News.

"We've seen over 300 satellites surveying ground-based activities and the number of overflights is over 3,000 since the start of the Malabar exercise centered around the Sydney Harbour Bay area," Dr Bennett added.

He further stated that the large number of low-orbit Chinese satellites above Australia would allow the country to gain knowledge of equipment capabilities and ground military activities.

"They can glean military intelligence on what the capabilities and equipment are, as well as processes of ground military activities; they can use this to drive a fair bit of intelligence on military operations in Australia."

Globally, space is regarded as an increasingly vital domain for contemporary military operations, and Australia's most recent defense strategic review identified space as a crucial component of a more integrated force.

Telescopes located outside of Canberra and at Learmonth in Western Australia were used to gather data on China's recent space activities, which EOS staff then used to precisely identify the satellites and their flight trajectories.

The Defence Department has declined to give details on how it was monitoring and mitigating any risks posed by the substantial Chinese satellite activity over Australia during what it describes as "well-publicised, complex war-fighting exercises".

"The ADF takes prudent measures to safeguard the information security of Australian and participating forces," a defense spokesperson told ABC.

"Defence tracks satellite movements as part of broader space domain awareness efforts."

According to James Brown, the CEO of the Space Industry Association of Australia, the number of Chinese satellites used to monitor military drills is consistent with Beijing's expanding footprint in space.

"We've seen an extraordinary amount of Chinese intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance satellites being launched in recent years and Australia is a target for all that activity; space is becoming a critical domain for any future conflict and any potential conflict," he said. 

He added further "They have hundreds of military and intelligence satellites which are not only collecting on Australia and its allies but in some cases dazzling Australian and allied satellites and maneuvering closely to other satellites.”

The scenario involving potential intelligence collection via satellites evokes parallels with recent events, most notably earlier this year when a Chinese high-altitude spy balloon traversed US territory.

Image source: TS2Space