Dec 12, Kathmandu- A Chinese national has been arrested for flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the US Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

Yin Piao Zhou, 39, was arrested as he was preparing to board a flight from San Francisco to China, authorities said.

According to charging documents, a detection system at Vandenberg tracked a drone flying 1.6 kilometers above the ground in late November.

Security personnel at the launch site for Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a space mission, including missile tests, found Zhou in a nearby public park with a device (a drone) hidden in his jacket.

When US authorities examined the drone, it contained images of the airport.

According to the Justice Department, Zhou is a Chinese citizen and a lawful permanent resident of the United States. He was in China until February.

During a court appearance in San Francisco on Tuesday, Zhou pleaded guilty to failing to register an aircraft that did not provide transportation services and violating national defense airspace.

He is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks. He will remain in custody until prosecutors appeal the court's decision to release Zhou on bail.

The incident comes less than two years after a national security incident that dramatically escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing.

In early 2023, the United States detected and shot down a spy balloon flying over sensitive US military installations.

The incident raised concerns that China was using sensitive intelligence against the United States, while US officials said it was a private aircraft.