GOING GLOBAL A train of Starlink satellites still raising their orbits flies over the town hall in Tübingen, Germany. inues filed with the International Telecommunication Union to fly 12,992 satellites. Even as SpaceX has led the charge into this new industry, the company has also led the way in engaging with astronomers and voluntarily reducing its impact on astronomy. At the virtual 237th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in January, SpaceX representative Patricia Cooper presented improvements to the original Starlink design, using a radio-transparent shade to prevent much of the incident sunlight from reflecting to observers on the ground. The first so-called VisorSat launched on June 4, 2020, and it follows an earlier attempt at mitigation that painted parts of a Starlink satellite black. (This " DarkSat " resulted in thermal issues and was discontinued.) Since August 7, 2020, all Starlink satellites have been VisorSats. SpaceX also altered the relative orientation of the satellite bodies and their solar sk yandtelescope.org * JUNE 2 021 17http://www.skyandtelescope.org