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Minor Planet Center vs USGS Water Services

Same instrument, two spec sheets — measured, not claimed.

APIMinor Planet CenterNEW—USGS Water ServicesNEW—
Uptime · 30d
Uptime · 90d—%—%
Uptime · 30d—%—%
P50 · ms——
P95 · ms——
Authnonenone
CORSyesyes
HTTPSnoyes
Card requirednono
Commercial useunclearyes
Data licenseUnverified (data derived from JPL/MPC)Public domain (U.S. Government work)
Free tierFree — limits not publishedFree — no API key required
Rate limitUnpublishedUnpublished
In directory since2026-07-052026-07-05
operationalpartialdownno data

Minor Planet Center vs USGS Water Services: common questions

Which is more reliable, Minor Planet Center or USGS Water Services?

On our scheduled checks, USGS Water Services leads on measured uptime — Minor Planet Center at —% versus USGS Water Services at —% over 90 days. These are our own probe results, not provider claims; the uptime bars above show the day-by-day record for both.

Do Minor Planet Center and USGS Water Services need an API key?

Neither needs a paid key — Minor Planet Center is callable with no signup, and USGS Water Services is callable with no signup. Both are quick to prototype with; rate limits still apply.

Can I call Minor Planet Center and USGS Water Services from the browser?

Only USGS Water Services is browser-friendly — it returns CORS headers over HTTPS. Minor Planet Center needs a server-side call or proxy, so factor that into which one fits a front-end project.

Are Minor Planet Center and USGS Water Services free for commercial use?

Minor Planet Center has unclear commercial terms, and USGS Water Services allows commercial use on its free tier. 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.