Basemaps

Planet Basemaps are globally available, analysis-ready mosaic products built from PlanetScope CubeSat imagery, designed for users who need consistent, cloud-free optical data over large areas without the overhead of individual scene selection. The basemaps are generated by automatically selecting the best available pixels from Planet's near-daily 3 m resolution imagery, applying cloud masking and radiometric normalization to produce a seamless composite at a 4.77 m cell size (at the equator) in Mercator projection. They are offered at weekly, biweekly, monthly, or quarterly cadences, making them suitable for time-series analysis in forestry, agriculture, land-use change detection, and machine learning workflows. The product is targeted at researchers, commercial analysts, and government agencies that require regularly updated, spatially consistent imagery across broad geographic extents without manual preprocessing.

Planet Basemaps work by ingesting imagery from the PlanetScope constellation — over 200 CubeSats that deliver near-daily optical data at 3 m resolution — and applying automated pixel-selection algorithms to choose the clearest, most recent observations for each location. The resulting mosaics cover land areas between 74° N and 60° S (seasonally dependent) and are radiometrically normalized to reduce scene-to-scene variability, which is critical for machine learning analytics and change detection. Users can access the basemaps via Planet's web-based Explorer, desktop GIS plugins (QGIS, ArcGIS), or through REST APIs and cloud storage (e.g., Sentinel Hub). The data is delivered as GeoTIFF tiles in standard projections, compatible with most GIS and remote sensing software. For academic users, Planet offers limited named-user licenses through institutional subscriptions, with access to both PlanetScope daily imagery (4-band from 2014, 8-band from 2020) and the basemap mosaics.

In the commercial satellite imagery market, Planet Basemaps compete directly with DigitalGlobe (now part of Maxar Technologies), Maxar's own Vivid and SecureWatch mosaics, and BlackSky Global's monitoring products. Unlike Maxar's very-high-resolution (VHR) offerings (30-50 cm), Planet Basemaps trade spatial detail for higher temporal frequency and broader coverage: the 4.77 m basemap cell size is coarser than Maxar's best, but Planet's near-daily revisit and weekly-to-monthly mosaic cadence provide a fresher, more consistent view of dynamic landscapes. BlackSky's constellation offers 1 m resolution but with a smaller swath and less frequent revisit. Planet's pricing is generally more affordable than Maxar's for large-area monitoring, though exact figures are not publicly listed; institutional subscriptions for academic research are available at reduced rates but with license restrictions on redistribution and commercial use.

The honest trade-offs: Planet Basemaps are not suitable for applications requiring sub-meter detail, such as individual building identification or detailed infrastructure inspection. The 4.77 m cell size means features smaller than about 10 m are poorly resolved. Cloud masking, while automated, can still leave residual cloud or shadow artifacts in persistently cloudy regions (e.g., tropical forests). The basemaps are limited to the spectral bands of PlanetScope (4-band RGB+NIR, or 8-band from 2020), lacking the shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands found on Landsat or Sentinel-2, which limits some vegetation and mineral analyses. Additionally, commercial redistribution of derived basemap products is prohibited, and institutional subscriptions impose download limits and a cap on the number of named user licenses.

Planet does not publish standard list prices for Basemaps. Academic institutional subscriptions (e.g., Brown University) provide limited named-user licenses for research. Commercial pricing is quoted per-seat or per-organization, with flexible tiers. Planet Insights Platform Basic is $110.67/month (billed monthly) or $1,100/year (billed annually) for cloud-native access, but Basemaps may require higher-tier plans.