[jason taylor]

Mail:

While the IISS allows private mail to be sent on it's couriers, Imperial government mail is it's primary use. Many prefer to send by a private packet service or a government service of their particular world.

One common feature for cultures that have a large interstellar economy is to have an office in port (sometimes connected to a consulate or a guildhall) for spacers to drop homebound mail. It is usually a service unaffordable to, say, Enos. But Glisten or Tizon or similar ports which have a lot of home-registered traffic in space at any time are among those that have such a network. It is of course impossible for spacers to receive mail while on the move but as the home port is sedentary at least loved ones can receive. Large scheduled lines can anticipate a ship's location, but certainly tramps cannot.

There are various customs for preserving privacy in such letters even when written aboard ship. One is simply to send by keyboard rather than video.