China on Thursday sent two new satellites for the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3) into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The two satellites, the 59th and 60th satellites of the BeiDou system, were launched at 09:14 (Beijing Time) by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and the Yuanzheng-1 (Expedition-1) upper stage attached to the carrier rocket.
They are medium-Earth orbit (MEO) satellites, and also the last group of backup satellites for the BDS-3.
After entering their orbit and completing in-orbit tests, they will be connected to the BeiDou system, and are expected to further improve the reliability and stability of the BDS-3 system.
The BDS was initiated in 1994. The construction of BDS-1 and BDS-2 was completed in 2000 and 2012, respectively. When BDS-3 was completed and put into service on July 31, 2020, China became the third country to have an independent global navigation satellite system.
China launches new BeiDou navigation satellites
China launches new BeiDou navigation satellites
President of the United States Joe Biden has extended for another year the Trading with the Enemy Act, a 1917 regulation under which the blockade of Cuba was imposed, Cuban media reported on Wednesday.
The continuation of the exercise of these authorities with respect to Cuba for one year, until September 14, 2025, is in the national interest of the United States, Biden said in the brief memorandum sent to the Treasury Department, published in the Federal Register.
The Trading with the Enemy Act, enacted under the administration of Woodrow Wilson who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921 during the period of World War I (1914 to 1918), empowers the government in power in Washington to restrict commercial activities with any nation that they consider an adversary.
Based on this legislation, on February 7, 1962, Democratic President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 3447, which officially began an economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba that has survived 11 White House administrations.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Thursday that the blockade constitutes a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people and the main obstacle to the country's development.
At current prices, the accumulated damages of the economic, commercial and financial blockade and trade embargo over the past six decades have amounted to the astronomical figure of 164.141 billion U.S. dollars, according to Rodriguez.
Since 1992, the United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted in favor of the resolution presented by Cuba to lift the blockade. Last year, the draft resolution was approved by 187 countries and opposed only by the United States and Israel, with Ukraine abstaining.
US extends blockade of Cuba for another year
