Northern Sky Research

Northern Sky Research (NSR) was a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based market research and consulting firm founded in 2000, specializing in the satellite and space industry with particular depth in satellite communications, Earth observation, satellite manufacturing, launch, and emerging space technology markets. NSR established itself as one of the most respected independent space industry research firms, with its annual and periodic reports on specific market segments (GEO satellite orders and deliveries, HTS (high-throughput satellite) capacity pricing, commercial launch market analysis, LEO constellation economics) serving as standard references for investors, executives, and policy makers.

NSR's research methodology combined public data analysis, primary research interviews with industry executives, financial modeling, and trend analysis to produce quantitative market size forecasts and qualitative strategic outlooks that subscribers — satellite operators, prime contractors, equipment manufacturers, financial institutions, and government agencies — used to benchmark competitive positioning, inform investment decisions, and prepare regulatory filings.

Highly cited NSR research included multi-year tracking of GEO satellite orders (revealing the structural decline as HTS, MEO/LEO competition, and launch economics eroded the traditional FSS GEO model), HTS capacity pricing analysis that tracked the dramatic price decline from $3,000/MHz/month in 2010 to under $100/MHz/month by 2020, and LEO broadband economics models that Starlink, OneWeb, and Telesat Lightspeed business case scrutiny was measured against.

NSR was acquired by Analysys Mason, a larger telecom and technology market research and consulting firm, providing NSR with broader resources while maintaining its space market specialization identity. The acquisition positioned the combined entity to serve clients at the intersection of terrestrial and space telecommunications — relevant as satellite internet and 5G NTN (non-terrestrial network) integration became commercially significant. NSR competed directly with Euroconsult (Paris-based space market research), SpaceTec Partners (now merged into Novaspace), and TMT Research for the space market intelligence subscription and consulting market.