from mapscript import mapObj,layerObj wkt = '''PROJCS["Moon_North_Pole_Stereographic",GEOGCS["Moon 2000",DATUM["D_Moon_2000",SPHEROID["Moon_2000_IAU_IAG",1737400.0,0.0]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0],UNIT["Decimal_Degree",0.0174532925199433]],PROJECTION["Stereographic"],PARAMETER["False_Easting",0],PARAMETER["False_Northing",0],PARAMETER["Central_Meridian",0],PARAMETER["Scale_Factor",1],PARAMETER["Latitude_Of_Origin",90],UNIT["Meter",1]]''' m = mapObj('') m.setWKTProjection(wkt) lyr = layerObj(m) lyr.setWKTProjection(wkt)