[2] The facility was used by Canada and the United States beginning in 1954 for sub-orbital launches of sounding rockets to study the upper atmosphere.

The complex was first built in 1954 by the Canadian Army's Defence Research Board to study the effects of auroras on long distance communications.

The site was reopened again in August 1959 by the US Army, in collaboration with the Canadian government, as part of its network of sounding rocket stations.

Akjuit assembled a "technical team" of 21 firms led by the American aerospace contractor Raytheon to plan the development of the site into SpacePort Canada, including polar orbital launch capability.

[5] The site is no longer used for rocket launches and is currently the location of the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, a non-profit and multi-disciplinary research facility that is also open for educational tourism.