FT: Iran Strikes U.S. Bases Using Chinese Satellites

During the conflict with the United States, Iran used Chinese remote-sensing satellites to gather intelligence and help direct missiles at U.S. military targets.

Financial Times, citing leaked documents, reported on this.

The report mentions the TEE-01B satellite, built by Earth Eye Co and launched in 2024.

According to the publication, after its launch, the satellite came under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, specifically its aerospace command.

The satellite provided high-precision imaging and continuous monitoring of U.S. and allied targets in the region.

Reported targets under surveillance included Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters area in Bahrain, and infrastructure in Erbil.

According to the Financial Times, the satellite data was likely used to refine target coordinates and improve strike accuracy.

It is also noted that Iran gained access to the ground infrastructure of the Chinese company Emposat, which supports satellite control and data processing. This likely helped shorten the “detection–identification–strike” cycle and allowed space-based intelligence to be integrated into combat planning.

It is worth noting that China has one of the largest constellations of reconnaissance and observation satellites in the world.

As of 2025–2026, China has more than 500–510 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance satellites, with over 1,300 satellites in total currently in orbit.

China has also submitted applications to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to deploy very large satellite constellations, with plans for up to 203,000 spacecraft in low Earth orbit.

Militarnyi previously reported that Russian satellites had imaged U.S. military sites in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region on behalf of Iran.