What is Planetary Computer Pro?
Microsoft Planetary Computer Pro is a geospatial data management service on Azure that reached general availability (GA) in 2026. Its core building block is the GeoCatalog resource: a managed solution for ingesting, organizing, searching, and distributing geospatial datasets based on the open SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) standard, which ensures interoperability with common geospatial software.
Unlike the free, public Microsoft Planetary Computer data catalog, Planetary Computer Pro primarily targets organizations that want to host, manage, and serve their OWN geospatial data (for example satellite imagery, sensor data, data cubes) at scale, ranging from gigabytes to tens of petabytes, to their own applications or third parties.
The platform is secured via Microsoft Entra ID, covered by the Azure SLA, and integrates with Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Foundry to bring geospatial data into AI and analytics workflows.
Core Features
- Zone-redundant, managed storage for raster and data cube formats
- Automatic cloud optimization of supported data formats upon ingestion
- Managed STAC API for all stored datasets
- Built-in data Explorer for visualizing your entire geospatial data estate
- Automated bulk ingestion from public and private data sources
- Mosaic and tiling API for pixel-level data queries
- OGC WMTS API endpoint for integration with mapping applications
Typical Use Cases
Enterprise Geospatial Catalog: Enterprise data teams organize distributed geospatial assets into standardized STAC collections with unified access control via Microsoft Entra ID.
Geospatial Product Development: Solution providers host processing pipeline data and customer-facing geospatial data products as part of their own applications.
Climate and Environmental Analysis: Combining your own and public geospatial data (satellite imagery, climate data, land use) for sustainability reporting, agricultural monitoring, or natural disaster analysis.
Map Integration: Serving your own geospatial datasets to web and desktop mapping applications via the OGC WMTS endpoint.
Benefits
- Fast deployment of a GeoCatalog instance within minutes
- Scales from gigabytes to tens of thousands of terabytes without infrastructure overhead
- Interoperability through the open STAC standard instead of a proprietary data format
- Integration with Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Foundry for AI-powered geospatial analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Planetary Computer Pro and the public Planetary Computer?
The public Planetary Computer data catalog offers free access to curated, open environmental and satellite data. Planetary Computer Pro is an Azure service for hosting, managing, and serving an organization’s OWN geospatial data based on the STAC standard, including SLA coverage and enterprise identity management.
What data formats are supported?
Planetary Computer Pro supports cloud-optimized raster formats as well as data cube formats such as Zarr and NetCDF; vector data support is being expanded. Refer to the official documentation for the current list of supported formats.
What does Planetary Computer Pro cost?
Billing is usage-based, covering stored data volume, vCPU hours consumed for ingestion and transformation, and data transfer. Refer to the official Azure pricing page for concrete prices.
Can I combine my own data with public datasets?
Yes, the bulk ingestion API allows you to bring both your own and publicly available geospatial data sources into a GeoCatalog instance for unified search and analysis.
How do I access the data?
Through the managed STAC API, the built-in data Explorer for visual search, the mosaic/tiling API, and the OGC WMTS endpoint for integration with mapping applications.
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory supports you in building GeoCatalog solutions with Planetary Computer Pro: from data ingestion and STAC modeling to integration with machine learning and reporting workflows using Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Foundry.
Typical Use Cases
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of Azure (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by Azure.
