We have a permanent human presence in space nowadays.

Astronauts on the International Space Station spend an average of 6 months on a mission.

This means that they want to stay connected to their loved ones and what's going on on Earth.

Fortunately, they don't have to lack internet access on the ISS.

Astronauts currently enjoy a 600 Mbps internet bandwidth.

To put it into perspective, the U.S. has an average internet speed of 256 Mbps.

The space habitat connects to the internet via ground-based antennas called the Near Space Network and a system of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon also uses the same communication services.

But this will change.

Elon Musk hinted that in the future, SpaceX's crewed spacecraft could use the Starlink satellite internet service and integrate WiFi in the capsule.

China's Tiangong space station also uses a similar technology to enable internet access and communication for their taikonauts (astronauts) onboard.

They operate a network of data relay satellites in geostationary orbit (36,000 km above Earth) called the Tianlian 2 satellites.

But how will space travelers have internet in lunar orbit and on the way to Mars?

Let me know in the thread if you want to know, and I will bring the story on it in another Atomic Essay.