International Star Registry

What International Star Registry does

International Star Registry (legal entity: International Star Registry of Illinois, Ltd.) is a privately held, Illinois-based company founded in 1979 that pioneered commercial star naming as a personalized gift product. The company sells the right to name a previously cataloged star and records that name against specific celestial coordinates in a copyrighted published volume. Stars are sourced from the NASA Guide Star Catalog (GSC), the same astronomical catalog used to support the Hubble Space Telescope pointing system, and each named star is permanently recorded in the proprietary "Your Place in the Cosmos" catalog — 11 volumes in total, registered with the US Copyright Office (Library of Congress Catalog No. 84-63015).

The product portfolio is structured as a tiered kit system: a $59 digital package, an unframed Custom Star Kit, a Deluxe kit with professional framing (gold or black), and an Ultimate kit that frames both the certificate and star chart. Optional add-ons include hand-lettered calligraphy, sterling silver engraved ornaments or jewelry, photographic sky images, and gift cards. The company has named over 3 million stars since inception and serves individual gift buyers (birthdays, anniversaries, memorials, holidays), corporate gifting clients (employee recognition, client appreciation), and bereavement customers seeking lasting tributes.

Distribution is primarily direct-to-consumer via the starregistry.com e-commerce storefront and a phone order line (800-282-3333), supplemented by country-specific sites for the UK, Australia, Canada, Hungary, Serbia, and Switzerland. Marketing relies on celebrity endorsements (e.g., Ellen DeGeneres Show features, celebrity hall-of-fame page), PR/earned media across NBC, CBS, and ABC, and educational blog content. Pricing is exclusively one-time purchase (no subscription), with a money-back guarantee and revenue derived entirely from kit sales plus add-on upgrades. The company holds federally registered trademarks in the US and EU and maintains an A+ BBB rating.

Name

International Star Registry

Legal name

International Star Registry of Illinois, Ltd.

Website

https://starregistry.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

International Star Registry, founded in 1979, sells personalized star naming gift packages to individual consumers and corporate clients via direct-to-consumer e-commerce, assigning NASA Guide Star Catalog coordinates and recording names in its copyrighted 'Your Place in the Cosmos' catalog.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personalized Star Naming Gifts

NAICS

Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Retailers (45942), Greeting Card Publishers (513191)

SIC

Greeting Cards (2771)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHSACANAL

Group Gifting & Registry Fulfillment

Home & Personal Services/Event & Personal Concierge Services/Gift Planning, Wrapping & Delivery Services

SECONDARYCRAKAFAK

Luxury Gifting & Seasonal Collections

Consumer Products & Retail/Jewelry, Watches & Luxury Accessories/Luxury Goods & Maison Brands (Multi-category)

SECONDARYHSACANAK

Long-Distance/International Gift Shipping Coordination

Home & Personal Services/Event & Personal Concierge Services/Gift Planning, Wrapping & Delivery Services

Keywords

• Star naming services
• Personalized gift certificates
• Celestial tribute packages
• Astronomy gift catalog
• Memorial dedication gifts

Headquarters

HQ city

Northbrook

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Star Naming Package Sales: One-time purchase revenue from selling star naming gift packages. Customers purchase the right to name a star, receiving a certificate, star chart, and astronomy booklet. Packages range from basic digital certificates to deluxe framed presentations. Additional revenue generated from add-on services such as hand calligraphy, custom engraving, professional framing, and photographic sky images.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

International Star Registry sells the commercial right to name a previously numbered star drawn from the NASA Guide Star Catalog, delivering a personalized star certificate with celestial coordinates, a star chart, and an astronomy booklet through tiered gift packages. Packages range from a $59 digital tier to approximately $189 premium framed kits, with optional add-on services such as hand-lettered calligraphy, custom engraving, professional framing, photographic sky images, and gift cards; each named star is permanently recorded in the company's copyrighted "Your Place in the Cosmos" catalog.

Product overview

International Star Registry operates as a single-service star naming company offering a core gift product — the ability to name a star and receive a personalized certificate, star chart, and astronomy booklet. The product portfolio is structured as a tiered kit system (Custom, Deluxe, and Ultimate levels) differentiated by framing and accessory options, supplemented by add-on modules (Calligraphy, Engravables, Gift Cards, Photographic Sky Image) and a published catalog ('Your Place in the Cosmos'). The tiered kits share the same core star naming and recording service but differ in presentation quality and included accessories, while add-ons are optional enhancements purchasable separately.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Star Kit Basic star naming package including a 12" x 16" personalized star certificate (with the chosen star name and celestial coordinates derived from the NASA Guide Star Catalog), a personalized star chart, and an astronomy booklet written by a professional astronomer; sold to consumers and corporate gift buyers as a personalized symbolic gift or memorial tribute.
• Gold Deluxe Star Kit Includes everything in the Custom Star Kit (personalized star certificate, star chart, and astronomy booklet) plus the certificate professionally framed in gold, plus a bonus wallet card with the star's location; targeted at consumers and corporate gift buyers wanting a premium framed presentation.
• Black Deluxe Star Kit Includes everything in the Custom Star Kit (personalized star certificate, star chart, and astronomy booklet) plus the certificate professionally framed in black, plus a bonus wallet card with the star's location; alternative framing color to the Gold Deluxe option.
• Gold Ultimate Star Kit Includes all features of the Deluxe Star Kit with both the certificate and the personalized star chart professionally framed in gold; positioned as the most luxurious presentation option for premium gift purchases.
• Black Ultimate Star Kit Includes all features of the Deluxe Star Kit with both the certificate and the personalized star chart professionally framed in black; the black-framed alternative to the Gold Ultimate Star Kit.
• Wish Upon A Star A toy product designed for children to name their very own star and make a heartfelt wish, presented with a Wish Upon a Star Teddy Bear in a gift box; targeted at young audiences and gift buyers as a unique gift option.
• Your Place in the Cosmos Star Catalog International Star Registry's published hardcover star catalog listing named stars and their unique coordinates from the NASA Guide Star Catalog, registered with the U.S. Copyright Office; sold to consumers as a tangible record of named stars.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 3 million stars named for celebrities, royalty, and individuals since 1979
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Name a Star Live: Direct-to-consumer star-naming competitor offering personalized star packages with certificates and astronomical coordinates. Operates in the same niche as ISR with very similar product structure and gifting occasions.
• Personalization Mall: Large personalized-gifts e-commerce retailer specializing in custom-engraved and custom-printed keepsakes for birthdays, weddings, and memorials — directly comparable occasion-driven gifting model with tiered pricing and add-on accessories.
• Things Remembered: Personalized gift retailer offering engraved jewelry, ornaments, and keepsakes for birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries. Highly comparable product archetype (engraved personalization + tiered pricing + occasion marketing).
• Perfect Memorials: Online memorial and remembrance keepsake retailer — overlaps directly with ISR's bereavement segment, selling personalized sympathy and tribute gifts including memorial jewelry and remembrance plaques.

Broad incumbents

• Hallmark Cards: Dominant greeting-card and sentimental-gifting incumbent with mass-market distribution. Comparable as a broader sentimental-gifting category leader where ISR occupies the niche 'symbolic/keepsake' tier, but at much greater scale and physical-retail reach.
• American Greetings: Established greeting-card publisher with overlapping seasonal/occasion gifting demand. Comparable in addressing birthday, anniversary, and holiday sentiment through personalized printed products, though at much larger scale.
• Etsy: Marketplace for personalized, custom, and handmade gifts including star-naming and engraved keepsakes. Comparable from a buyer-intent and occasion-gifting standpoint but at vastly different scale and through a third-party marketplace model.

Regional players

• 1-800-Flowers: Large-scale US gifting retailer focused on occasion-driven purchases (birthdays, sympathy, holidays) with strong phone-order and e-commerce DNA similar to ISR's 800-channel heritage. Comparable in serving sentimental gifting demand though via florals rather than symbolic keepsakes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/StarRegistry
• Facebookfacebook.com/timeline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/international-star-registry

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Star Registry