It began gathering data in December 2002 using the MIKE echelle spectrograph mounted on the 6.5m Magellan II "Clay" telescope located within the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.

[1][2] In 2010, the program began using the newly commissioned Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS), an instrument purpose-built for precise radial velocity measurement.

In the early years of the program, MIKE spectra were collected with a resolving power, R, of about 65,000 and achieved velocity precision of several meters per second.

[2] Using PFS, most spectra are collected with a resolving power of about 80,000 and velocity precision closer to one meter per second.

For example, an early announcement was made in January 2010 regarding the discovery of five long period, Jovian mass planets in eccentric orbits around G and K type dwarfs.