Satellite images show expansion of mysterious Chinese airfield, purpose yet to be clear Beijing [China], July 2 (ANI): Satellite images have shown a three-mile-long runway in a remote patch of Chinese desert possibly undergoing an expansion, hinting at China''s increasing activities to rival the United States. Satellite imagery from the commercial company Maxar supplied exclusively to the National Public Radio (NPR) showed around a dozen large concrete buildings under construction near the landing strip. The buildings mark a significant change at the airfield, which used to lack any permanent accommodation until now. "I think we''re observing what appears to be a pretty important facility for China''s military space activities that appears to be growing," says Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Observers believed that China landed a highly classified "space plane" at the mysterious airfield, which lies close to China''s former nuclear weapons test range at Lop Nur. Though it is unclear, some say it is similar to the space shuttles used to ferry US astronauts in orbit, but smaller.