It was initiated in 2013 to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda by the then chief minister of Karnataka, Jagadish Shettar, who had laid the foundation stone to build it in two years at a cost of ₹35.69 crore (US$4.1 million).

It has a Megastar IIA optical projector integrated with digistar and active stereo 3D 8K digital planetarium system manufactured in US by Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation.

[2][4][9] The 32 lenses of the 8K ultra-bright LED-based projector, from Ohira Tech Japan, is said to be capable of beaming "20 million stars uniformly and seamlessly over the nano-seam panels of the dome, thereby avoiding the overlapping of projected visuals.

[4][10] The shows cover space technology, planets, nature, environment science, history and geography, which are presented in English, Hindi and Kannada.

[4][3] The first inaugural show screened was We are stars which covers the story of space of billions of years from the time of the Big Bang to the modern day.