Recent content by Silent Hunter

Or time delayed instructions sent via mail i.e. do not open until said date. Now that could be a plot in itself... getting orders back before they are put into effect.

It's probably worth looking into how it happened on Earth at TL2/TL3 level; you'd place great reliance on travellers bringing the news with them when they arrived - indeed, news reports for another system could be a cargo in its own right.