Independent market research firm Northern Sky Research is expecting growth in the satellite broadband market in 2005.

According to the group’s just-released fourth update to its “Broadband Satellite Markets” study, Northern Sky notes that the Broadband Satellite Services (BSS) market suffered a difficult year in 2004 with the delay of the iPSTAR-1 satellite, delays in service offerings from WildBlue, Telesat and DirecTV turning Spaceway-1 and -2 into TV broadcasting satellites instead of broadband services satellites as they were originally intended. But, “the simple fact is that satellite broadband services saw solid, incremental growth in 2004 and Northern Sky Research contends that the window of opportunity remains open for future generations of new broadband services,” Patrick French, senior analyst at Northern Sky said in a prepared statement.

The group said that total IP VSAT sites and subscribers to satellite broadband services increased by more than 115,000 in 2004 and total revenue generated throughout the same time period was more than $2.7 billion. Northern Sky is projecting a 7.8 percent rate of average annual revenue growth.