China plans to deploy a Skynet-like surveillance system on the Moon to safeguard its Lunar assets, reports The South China Morning Post (SCMP). This system will consist of millions of sensors and cameras, aiming to monitor a future Chinese Moon base continuously.
This surveillance system’s main goal is to keep an eye on foreign visitors to the base and spot any suspicious activity so that appropriate action can be taken. The system will be based on China’s vast terrestrial surveillance network, also referred to as “Skynet,” which consists of more than 600 million cameras and is present almost everywhere in the nation.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will be used by the new lunar surveillance system to coordinate the cameras, which will weigh approximately 3.5 ounces (100 grams) apiece, according to a paper published by the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Centre of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) in the Chinese journal Acta Optica Sinica. These cameras with AI capabilities will be able to locate, identify, track, and aim at suspicious targets on their own.
The system will produce alert signals and start the proper response procedures in the case of any irregularities; however, the study did not specify which precise actions to take. More than 3.7 miles (6 km) in radius, the surveillance system would be bigger than a Disney theme park. It will have a command center, power plant, communication hub, facilities for scientific study, and a fleet of robots, among other amenities.
The authors emphasized the need for sophisticated security measures, particularly with regard to confidential communication between the optical detection terminals and the central control hub, in order to ensure the security of the system against potential external threats, such as terrorist organizations and other nations.
There are several engineering difficulties in developing a surveillance system this complicated for the Moon, especially when it comes to encrypting signals to survive the strong electromagnetic radiation in deep space. Chinese experts, though, are still optimistic that they can overcome these obstacles and put in place a reliable surveillance system on the moon.