"A commercial satellite photo may reveal a new Chinese space plane just moments after it landed at a remote site on the western side of China"

NPR:

"I'm reading a lot into a few little dots," admits Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who diligently tracks spacecraft and satellites. But

...

So why might China now be getting into space planes?

"It's a great question," says Brian Weeden, director of program planning for the Secure World Foundation, which advocates for the peaceful use of space. "We're not even really sure why the U.S. military is pursuing a space plane."

From a thread about identifying the airstrip:

HI EVERYBODY! Over the past few days, I've been thinking a lot about this mysterious airstrip in China.

This is the place where @planet4589 @Marco_Langbroek @DutchSpace and others think China's new space plane landed on 6 Sept... (photo 8 Sep via @planetlabs).

Let's talk! pic.twitter.com/2znOenlgZc

— Geoff Brumfiel (@gbrumfiel) September 9, 2020

So is there a runway that DOES look like Lop Nur anywhere in the world? Well yes, actually I happened to find one… in Florida. pic.twitter.com/6LeFbi6EJa

— Geoff Brumfiel (@gbrumfiel) September 9, 2020

Related, another secret uncovered:

This very good piece has some incredible photos, but they missed my favourite thing you can discover using this method. https://t.co/X2v9Hz9iBb

— alex hern (@alexhern) August 27, 2020

It looks like yet more landscape, until you realise the scale is off: it's huge by human standards, but those aren't mountain peaks. Instead, it's more like… a giant map? But where of? pic.twitter.com/CMQVTJPRK2

— alex hern (@alexhern) August 27, 2020

What this is is a gigantic – 900m x 700m – recreation of Aksai Chin, part of the disputed territory between India and China, as well as a chunk of southern Tibet.

— alex hern (@alexhern) August 27, 2020

The best theory I've read for why this exists is that it's to train Chinese tank commanders about the terrain they'd be encountering were the border disputes between the two countries to get… a little hotter.

— alex hern (@alexhern) August 27, 2020

And one more:

Cool map, assembled by Andrei Conovaloff, marks the locations of dozens of old Corona satellite calibration targets in the desert. https://t.co/ySc5m1Isxw | via @DowntownJCO @AJKhn pic.twitter.com/Tmie42LlvM

— Geoff Manaugh (@geoffmanaugh) September 7, 2020