It was built in 1966 to allow the evaluation of magnetic movement in crewed and uncrewed spacecraft, and for the precision calibration of magnetometers used in space flight.

The Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility is located about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the main campus of the Goddard Space Flight Center, in Building 310-20 on the north side of Good Luck Road.

Fluctuations in the ambient field are removed by a servo control, producing stability to half a nanotesla.

[4] The facility was built in 1966, and has been used to determine and minimize the magnetic movement of uncrewed spacecraft and to calibrate flight magnetometers since the early years of the United States space program.

The facility's main difficulties have been with deteriorating current amplifiers, with replacements made in the 1970s and 1980s altering its performance characteristics.