CHINA is planning to install chilling all-seeing surveillance on the moon to spy on its citizens and protect its forthcoming lunar base.
The Skynet security cameras will reportedly be equipped with AI-driven chips capable of detecting and aiming at “suspicious targets”.
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Skynet is the world’s largest surveillance network, with more than 600 million cameras currently used to monitor every inch of China.
Its name comes from the Chinese proverb: “There is forever a net in the sky, with large mesh but letting nothing through,” meaning that the law is all-seeing and wrongdoers will always face retribution.
China’s plans to take Skynet to the moon emerged out of a desire to ensure the long-term stability and safety of its proposed International Lunar Research Station, according to a research paper written by scientists at the China National Space Administration.
The planned lunar base, which is bigger than Disneyland, has a radius of 3.7 miles and comprises a command centre, a power station, a communication hub, scientific facilities, and a fleet of robots.
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It will even have its own satellites for remote sensing, navigation, and communication.
China hopes to begin building the lunar base within the next few years and have a basic station established, using lunar soil, by 2028.
According to the paper, published in the Chinese academic journal Acta Optica Sinica: “The construction and operation of the optical surveillance system for the [International] Lunar Research Station can draw on the successful experience … of China’s Skynet project.”
China’s lunar version of Skynet will involve a large number of high-performance security cameras – each weighing 100 grams – that operate in visible light and infrared zones, South China Morning Post reports.
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And AI-driven chips in the cameras will be “capable of identifying, locating, tracking and aiming at suspicious targets independently”.
If any “abnormalities” are detected, the system will “promptly generate alarm signals and initiate appropriate response measures”.
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It is not known what the “response measures” might entail.
The system will allow multi-camera, high-definition live footage of events – such as the arrival and departure of spacecraft carrying international astronauts – to be streamed down to Earth.
All of the cameras should automatically connect to each other after arriving on the moon, allowing for complete coverage of the station.
Decision-makers claim certain areas within the station may need continuous, 360-degree surveillance.
The paper, co-authored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and Zhejiang University, as well as the space agency – emphasised that the lunar Skynet will need to be fortified against potential external threats.
Its authors wrote: “Ensuring confidential communication between the various optical detection terminals and the central control hub represents a significant engineering hurdle.
“The encryption techniques employed for signal transmission and streaming media must be resilient against the interference caused by the intense electromagnetic radiation prevalent in deep space. The data must not be damaged or stolen.
“It underscored the need to establish a new set of standards tailored to the unique operational demands of deep-space missions, thereby ensuring the integrity and security of mass-produced optical surveillance terminals.”
Meanwhile, a team is working on a design for a robot that will be able to make bricks from lunar soil, Chinese media reports.
Ding Lieyun, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, previously proposed an egg-shaped base called the “Lunar Pot Vessel” to house astronauts on the moon.
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It would be constructed using lunar soil-based bricks created with 3D printers and lasers.
Ding said: “Building a habitat on the moon is needed for long-term lunar explorations, and will certainly be realised in the future.”
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