Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Chinese-born engineer pleads guilty to stealing US trade secrets
ADVERTISEMENT


Los Angeles, United States, July 21 (AFP) Jul 21, 2025
A Chinese-born US researcher pleaded guilty on Monday to stealing trade secrets, including technology used to detect nuclear missile launches, the Justice Department said.

Chenguang Gong, 59, of San Jose, California, was accused of transferring more than 3,600 files from the research and development company where he worked to his personal storage devices.

Gong pleaded guilty in a central California district court on Monday to one count of theft of trade secrets and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Sentencing was set for September 29.

Gong, who became a US citizen in 2011, worked briefly in 2023 as an engineer at a Los Angeles-area research and development company, the Justice Department said.

The company was not identified.

Among the files Gong downloaded were blueprints for infrared sensors designed for use in space-based systems to detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles, the Justice Department said.

Also stolen were blueprints for sensors designed to enable US military aircraft to detect incoming heat-seeking missiles and take countermeasures.

The Justice Department said Gong, while employed at several major technology companies in the United States between 2014 and 2022, had submitted applications to join so-called "Talent Programs" funded by the Chinese government.

The programs are designed to identify individuals with "expert skills, abilities, and knowledge of advanced sciences and technologies" that can advance the Chinese economy and military capabilities, it said.


ADVERTISEMENT





Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Lunar soil shows promise for in-situ oxygen and fuel production
SpaceX scrubs launch of 2 SES mPOWER satellites
Brines may form from seasonal frost on Mars study finds

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Nuclear timekeeping may reveal hidden traits of dark matter
The secret life of neutrinos
New copper alloy delivers shape memory performance at extreme cold

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Surrey launches new Space Institute to drive mission-ready innovation and skills for UK space sector
York to Acquire ATLAS Space Operations to Boost Ground Connectivity and Mission Delivery
ALLSPACE to Develop 5G NTN Satcom Integration with ESA Funding

24/7 News Coverage
Deep sea mining firm TMC gets veiled warning from global body
ICJ to deliver landmark climate ruling
'No life without water': settler attacks threaten West Bank communities



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.