It was officiated by Sultan Iskandar of Johor who was the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia on 19 January 1989 and was opened to the public on 1 March 1989.

The planetarium has a sitting capacity of 172, equipped with a white dome of 15 metres in diameter, fitted with four projectors, and lightning facilities.

The planetarium uses a German-made Zeiss projector which can show 5000 stars, a moon, and several special effects.

The main purpose of this planetarium is to show educational videos about astronomy and to give the audience an experience of the outer space.

The first show screened in the planetarium was a documentary about the moon made by a professor from the National University of Malaysia (UKM).