BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China.

EARTH-OBSERVATION SATELLITE

China launched a new Earth-observation satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Tuesday.

The satellite, Gaofen-3 02, was launched by a Long March-4C rocket at 7:45 a.m. (Beijing Time) and has entered the planned orbit successfully.

The satellite will operate in a solar synchronous orbit at an altitude of 755 km and will be networked with the orbiting Gaofen-3 satellite to form a land-sea radar satellite constellation.

ANTI-COVID-19 DRUG

A Chinese antiviral medicine for COVID-19, called JS016, has commenced phase-3 clinical trials overseas, its developer said Monday.

The patented anti-COVID-19 drug candidate was jointly developed by the Institute of Microbiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co., Ltd.

JS016 has become the first COVID-19 monoclonal antibody in the world to carry out clinical trials in healthy people.

SCIENCE EDUCATION

A Chinese alliance of venues for popular science education and cultural venues was launched in Beijing on Monday.

The first 16 members of the alliance include the Palace Museum, the National Museum of China, the National Art Museum of China, the Geological Museum of China, the China Science and Technology Museum, the Dunhuang Academy, and the China Alliance for Science Literacy.

This alliance is aimed at pushing forward the cooperation and integrated development of the exhibition venues, social organizations, and research institutions, to help improve the science literacy of the Chinese people.