Minor Planet Center vs Open Notify
Same instrument, two spec sheets — measured, not claimed.
Minor Planet Center vs Open Notify: common questions
Which is more reliable, Minor Planet Center or Open Notify?
On our scheduled checks, Minor Planet Center leads on measured uptime — Minor Planet Center at 99.02% versus Open Notify at 71.6% over 90 days. These are our own probe results, not provider claims; the uptime bars above show the day-by-day record for both.
Which is faster, Minor Planet Center or Open Notify?
Minor Planet Center has the lower median latency in our checks — Minor Planet Center responds in 217 ms versus Open Notify at 241 ms (P50). Tail latency (P95) is in the table above; for most workloads the median is the number that shapes how the API feels.
Do Minor Planet Center and Open Notify need an API key?
Neither needs a paid key — Minor Planet Center is callable with no signup, and Open Notify is callable with no signup. Both are quick to prototype with; rate limits still apply.
Can I call Minor Planet Center and Open Notify from the browser?
Neither sends browser-friendly CORS headers reliably, so call Minor Planet Center and Open Notify from a server or proxy rather than client-side. The CORS and HTTPS rows above show exactly what we detected for each.
Are Minor Planet Center and Open Notify free for commercial use?
Minor Planet Center has unclear commercial terms, and Open Notify has unclear commercial terms. We track service terms and the data license as separate fields — see the Commercial use and Data license rows above, and confirm both before shipping either in a paid product.