Three people have been charged of conspiracy to export space and weapons materials to China illegally. The three men -- one of whom lives in New York, while the other two are in Singapore -- allegedly tried to send carbon fiber to the China Academy of Space Technology; one of several academies responsible for building satellites used by the Chinese government.

There is growing concern that the Chinese space program could easily turn into a militarized space program capable of launching attacks from space.  China successfully destroyed an aging weather satellite in January, which worried officials from several western governments.

"Keeping U.S. weapons technology and other restricted materials from falling into the wrong hands and from being used against our allies, our troops overseas or Americans at home is a top counter-intelligence priority of the Justice Department," Assistant Attorney General for National Security Patrick Rowan said.  "Through this multi-agency initiative we are making America a far more hostile target for those that seek to obtain our sensitive technology through illegal means."

After a successful satellite shoot down by the U.S. government in February, it was China's turn to bring up concern regarding possible space military actions.

The United States, Russia, China, and other nations are developing technology able to shoot down satellites, missiles and other airborne objects.

Along with China, the Justice Department has noticed a rise in illegal transportation of weapons and military equipment that is headed for Iran.  According to an Associated Press report, Iran has been the top location for illegal export of restricted U.S. technology over the past two years.

The U.S. government has filed charges against 145 people accused of export violations, with half of the export cases related to either China or Iran.  There has been a 30 percent increase in violations during 2008, with numbers steadily increasing the past several years.