Death Star

The Death Stars, the Galactic Empire's most terrifying weapons, were battle stations spanning hundreds of kilometers in diameter. They featured a directed energy superlaser capable of annihilating a planet with a single blast, alongside 15,000 laser, ion, and turbolaser batteries, as well as 768 tractor beam emplacements. However, the initial Death Star's defensive measures proved insufficient to prevent starfighters from penetrating its defenses.

The diameter of the first Death Star was 120 kilometers, while the second measured 160 kilometers. A significant portion of their internal space was dedicated to the systems necessary for maintaining the massive superlaser and its power plant. At the core of each Death Star resided a colossal hypermatter reactor, generating an output equivalent to that of multiple main-sequence stars. This chamber housed a reaction of immense scale, fueled by stellar fuel bottles positioned around its perimeter.

A vast equatorial trench, approximately 503 kilometers long on the first Death Star and 2,827 kilometers on the second, divided the station into two equal hemispheres. This area contained the majority of the primary landing bays, drive thrusters, sensor arrays, and tractor beam systems. Supplementary trenches were located halfway between the equator and each pole. The Death Star was segmented into 24 zones, 12 per hemisphere, each overseen by a "bridge." To further organize the considerable activity onboard, specific "sectors" were designated for various functions, including General, Command, Military, Security, Service, and Technical.

Given the extended duration of service onboard the Death Star, the station included various civilian amenities to enhance the comfort of those stationed in deep space. General sectors of the station housed parks, shopping centers, recreational areas, and taverns such as the Hard Heart Cantina.

Realspace propulsion for the Death Star was facilitated by a network of potent ion engines that converted reactor power into thrust. Mobility was essential for the Death Star to pose a credible threat. Utilizing linked banks of 123 hyperdrive field generators connected to a single navigational matrix, the Death Star could traverse the galaxy at faster-than-light speeds. The immense energies harnessed by the station, combined with its substantial mass, generated magnetic and artificial gravitational fields comparable to those found on orbital bodies many times larger.

The Death Star's superlaser drew power directly from the hypermatter reactor. Its faceted amplification crystal consolidated the destructive force of eight individual tributary beams into a single blast with the intensity of a stellar core. However, after each firing, Imperial engineers required at least 24 standard hours to recharge the reactor. While the energy output of the blast could be adjusted to target smaller objects such as capital ships, as demonstrated during the Rebel assault on the second Death Star, the two primary instances of the superlaser's use involved full-power strikes against planetary bodies.

The Death Star's interior was structured in two primary orientations. Areas closest to the surface featured concentric decks with artificial gravity directed toward the Death Star's core. Beyond this outer layer, the Death Star's interior consisted of stacked decks with gravity oriented toward the station's southern pole.

The concept of the Death Star originated with Raith Sienar, who envisioned it as an Expeditionary Battle Planetoid, although he deemed the design impractical. He shared his idea with Wilhuff Tarkin, who, despite Sienar's reservations, presented it to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, having been sufficiently impressed. Palpatine then tasked Bevel Lemelisk with advancing hypermatter science in collaboration with the Geonosian hives led by Poggle the Lesser. Lemelisk succeeded with the assistance of the Twi'lek scientist Tol Sivron, although the plans ultimately fell into enemy hands when the Geonosians joined the Separatists. In reality, Palpatine, as Sith Lord Darth Sidious, orchestrated the provision of the designs to the Separatists, led by his apprentice, Separatist leader Count Dooku, without Lemelisk's knowledge. Dooku then commissioned Geonosian Industries to make further technical modifications to the original plans.

During the Battle of Geonosis, Archduke Poggle the Lesser, the leader of the Geonosians, returned the top-secret designs to Count Dooku to prevent their capture by the Jedi. Dooku transported the designs back to Coruscant and delivered them to his dark master, Darth Sidious. Subsequently, the Separatists continued construction of their superweapon in the Geonosis system.

The 501st Legion was deployed to Mygeeto during the Clone Wars to acquire an ancient Mygeetan crystal, an experimental power source required by the Chancellor for a classified tributary laser-stream project known as "Hammertong," intended for use on the first Death Star.

Darth Sidious subsequently ordered the construction of the Death Star after the formation of the Galactic Empire to solidify his newly acquired absolute power. Wilhuff Tarkin was appointed to oversee the clandestine development project, although some accounts credit Raith Sienar as the superweapon's creator. Tarkin's innovative work led to the realization of the Death Star as the Empire's ultimate weapon.

Following the onset of the Great Jedi Purge, an assault was launched on Kashyyyk to enslave the native Wookiees for use in the Death Star's construction. Captives from various prison planets were also unknowingly employed in the construction of different sections of the station. Additionally, Mrlssi scientists contributed to some of the technology incorporated into the station.

Despite these efforts, the project nearly faltered before it could truly begin. The advanced technology involved in the Death Star's construction proved more challenging to implement than initially anticipated. Repeated sabotage attempts, often unsuccessful, further hampered progress. Moreover, spies affiliated with Gentis infiltrated the Death Star's development team shortly after the establishment of the New Order, contributing to his military coup against Palpatine a few months later.

The technology required to create the massive superlaser, the weapon's core component, was of particular concern. This technology was derived from the long-running Hammertong Project. Initially, the Superlaser cannon was slated for installation on the equator, but it was later relocated to the dorsal hemisphere for unspecified reasons. Furthermore, the tributary lasers required precise fine-tuning and alignment during development; otherwise, the central beam would misfocus and dissipate into backscatter, posing a greater threat to the superlaser housing than to any intended target. The superlaser's substantial power requirements, primarily met by the station's hypermatter reactor, necessitated the disabling of all other ship functions, including shields and life support, during its operation. Finally, the firing process also generated magnetic and gravitational fluxes, which also needed to be dissipated in fear of either misaligning the crystals or, in the worst case scenario, tear the station apart. To address these challenges, Tarkin assembled some of the galaxy's most brilliant minds, including Tol Sivron, Qwi Xux, and Bevel Lemelisk, and constructed a proof-of-concept model at the Maw Installation. This model would eventually be known as the Death Star prototype. These scientists also identified and rectified several flaws in the Geonosian blueprints used during that phase of construction. Renowned physicist Rorax Falken collaborated with the Empire at some stage during the Death Star's construction, albeit unaware that his ideas and knowledge were being applied to a battlestation. Throughout this period, the Death Star's construction site frequently shifted, from Geonosis to Seswenna to Patriim to Horuz, the latter location being the location when the battle station was starting to become a reality.

With the concept validated and the plans finalized, Lemelisk transferred the plans to Despayre, where construction was ultimately completed after two decades of arduous labor and the loss of numerous lives. To commemorate the achievement, the Death Star turned its immense weapon on Despayre itself, obliterating the planet. Following the completion of the first Death Star, designated the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, Lemelisk and the IDMR explored two potential directions for the Death Star's future: either converting various factory worlds to mass-produce duplicates of the current DS-1 model, or constructing an even larger and more dangerous Death Star with a diameter of 160 km. The Empire ultimately chose the latter option.

During its construction, the Death Star housed countless prisoners of the Empire, ranging from political dissidents to pirate gangs to Rebel saboteurs. These prisoners staged a breakout and riot within the Death Star, which was suppressed by the 501st Legion. However, some prisoners managed to escape with a partial set of the plans and some Imperial data.

Galen Marek journeyed to the Death Star to liberate Bail Prestor Organa, Rahm Kota, and the remaining founders of the Rebel Alliance, including Mon Mothma. He engaged Darth Vader in combat within the corridor leading to Sidious' Observation Chamber, severely injuring the Sith Lord. Palpatine urged Galen to kill Vader, but Galen instead attacked Sidious himself. The two engaged in a fierce duel utilizing the Force and lightsaber combat. Galen sacrificed his life in an explosion that allowed the Rebels to escape. He was honored by the Alliance when his family crest was adopted as their symbol.

Shortly after construction was completed, Rebel spies discovered the other set of Death Star blueprints on a secret signal interceptions asteroid outpost, AX-235. The Rebellion advanced, and within the framework of Operation Skyhook, Kyle Katarn stole a copy of the plans from Danuta, ultimately delivering them to Leia Organa. Later, while attempting to recruit the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi to the rebel cause, Leia's vessel, the Tantive IV, was attacked by the Star Destroyer Devastator above Tatooine. Before being captured, Leia concealed the plans within R2-D2 and dispatched him to Kenobi on Tatooine. Upon arriving at Alderaan, which had been destroyed by the Death Star, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Kenobi, and Chewbacca mistook the station for a small moon while tracking a lone TIE/LN starfighter.

The quartet was soon captured, but after escaping from the Death Star with Leia, the plans to the station were transported by Princess Leia with their help to Rebel leaders on Yavin IV. Shortly thereafter, the Death Star arrived to destroy the rebel base, having located it via a transmitter placed on the Millennium Falcon. After weakening the defenses by destroying some of the Deflection Towers, Luke Skywalker piloted a T-65 X-wing starfighter through a minor trench on the surface of the Death Star, then Vader followed him in, and during his evasion of Darth Vader, he heard Obi-Wan call to him, telling him to use the Force, not his targeting computer. Luke switched off his computer, to the concern of the Rebels in the base, then fired two proton torpedoes into the thermal exhaust port, which led directly to the main reactor. This triggered a chain reaction that destroyed the battle station just before it could fire on the Rebel base. Ironically, shortly before Luke's destruction of the Death Star, Palpatine had ordered for the creation of a second Death Star.

Nearly four years later, Bothan spies acquired the plans for the second Death Star, unaware that their theft had been orchestrated by Emperor Palpatine, who had agreed to a suggestion personally made to him by Black Sun leader Prince Xizor. General Crix Madine and Admiral Gial Ackbar formulated a strategy for the destruction of the new Death Star. Han Solo led a team to the forest moon of Endor to disable the shield generator protecting the Death Star II. The plan involved a group of X-wings and the Millennium Falcon, piloted by Lando Calrissian, attacking the Death Star upon the destruction of the shield generator. The fighters flew into the center of the station through a narrow maze of pipes to destroy the reactor directly and rushed out in just enough time to escape the ensuing explosion before the station could carry out its final order: destroying the Sanctuary Moon of Endor. Shortly before its destruction, an evacuation order was issued for all non-essential personnel.

At some point after the Battle of Endor, a third Death Star was being constructed in orbit around the forest moon of Endor which was escorted by a fleet of Imperial-class Star Destroyers but was destroyed by the New Republic while still undergoing construction. Its weakness was a hole similar to the thermal exhaust port of the first Death Star.

Years later, upon his first encounter with the Yuuzhan Vong and their massive worldships, Han Solo remarked: "Why isn't there a Death Star lying around when you need one?"

Around the time the Geonosians were designing their Ultimate Weapon, Raith Sienar was also designing a battlestation (apparently without a superlaser) of similar size and prestige. The best elements of both were merged together with final detail work taking place in the secret Maw Cluster near Kessel. This laboratory completed a scaled-down prototype that was later destroyed by the New Republic.

Both Death Stars were protected by hundreds of shield projectors (including Deflection towers), and thousands of turbolasers, ion cannons and laser cannons. The first one contained a complement of seven to nine thousand TIE fighters, along with tens of thousands of support craft, bombers, and gunships. Massive docking bays provided several Star Destroyers with dry docks, and more than a million Imperial personnel were on board both battle stations.

One limitation of the original design was the power system, which required twenty-four hours to fully charge the laser. However, even low-power shots could inflict substantial planetary-scale damage. The second Death Star featured redesigned systems that enabled the superlaser to fire every three minutes. It also incorporated improved targeting computers, enabling accurate targeting of capital ships.

The first Death Star's shields contained small gaps, which the Empire deemed insignificant due to their accessibility only to small ships. The shields of the second Death Star were designed to eliminate such gaps.

The second Death Star also addressed several other deficiencies in the original design. The two-meter exhaust vent that led to the first station's demise was replaced with millions of millimeter-wide tubes, each designed to seal upon detecting excess energy. The second station also boasted a significantly greater number of turbolaser batteries with redesigned targeting systems, facilitating easier targeting of starfighters. The highest concentration of turbolasers was situated near the Emperor's throne tower.

Durga the Hutt also constructed a smaller version with only the central laser core and a small living quarters, which was destroyed in the asteroid field around Hoth. This was known as the Darksaber, but shoddy construction techniques and substandard components meant that this attempt was an abject failure even before its destruction.

According to the Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections fact book, the first Death Star in A New Hope had a diameter of 160 kilometers. The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film includes a sketch attributed to Ralph McQuarrie indicating 92 miles (148 kilometers). According to the Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy fact book and detailed scaling of the station in Return of the Jedi, the second Death Star had a diameter of 900 kilometers. Some Expanded Universe sources cite much smaller figures—120 kilometers for the first Death Star and 160 kilometers for the second—however, most of the evidence argues for the larger sizes.

The Dalek Crucible in Doctor Who from series 4 in 2008 is said to be inspired by the Death Star, apart from the 'wings' on the side, the Crucible is very similar, but the eye is covered by a shield whereas on the Death Star it is not.

Several Star Wars games revolve around the Death Star's destruction, or the theft, protection, and transmission of its plans until they reach Tantive IV. Some games also concentrate on the immediate aftermath, such as Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike.

The Death Star is available as a cheat in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns. It functions as an air cruiser unit but moves much slower. It compensates for its speed with exceptional hit points, shielding, armor, and the most powerful attack in the game—any object on the map, even trees and rocks, vanish after the Death Star fires. It is nearly impossible to destroy it. There is a limit on the number of Death Stars the player can conjure up at any time.

A number of Death Star battle stations appear in sources of uncertain canonicity. The Star Tours theme-park ride features another battlemoon at Endor, distinctly different from the one depicted in Return of the Jedi, while the French-language RPG Magazine Casus Belli 99 presents another prototype, named the Nocturnô. The former, however, was officially entered into continuity by Leland Chee, the gatekeeper of the LucasFilm Holocron Continuity Database, with it being named the Death Star III.

The Death Star has also permeated popular culture, inspiring the "Death Egg" in the Sonic the Hedgehog series (1992).

Besides its role in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, both in the main campaign and its appearance in the co-op mode for the game (based on Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader), the Death Star also had an appearance in the game's opening and arcade mode, as a disco ball.

In the eleventh issue of Star Wars Adventure Journal, under the Fragments from the Mind's Eye section, the Death star was sold as a discount superweapon at B'hob's Discount Superweapons. Its tagline, "Only Exploded Twice", was a humorous reference to how both the original Death Star and the Death Star II were destroyed.

Mimas, the smallest and closest of Saturn's seven major moons, is known primarily for its massive impact crater, Herschel. When the Voyager 1 space probe flew by the Saturn system in 1980, the images of Mimas and the Herschel crater were strikingly similar to the original Death Star, with Herschel resembling the superlaser dish, a comparison noted by the scientific community. This likeness has since become one of Mimas's defining features in both astronomical circles and popular culture.

The similarity was once again highlighted in official press releases and by scientific publications during the Cassini orbiter's exploration of the Saturn system in 2004. However, more recent images taken by Cassini present a different picture, as Mimas's egg-like shape makes it less like the Death Star orbiting Saturn.

Toward the end of 2012, an appeal was made on the White House website, suggesting the United States government should construct an actual Death Star as a way to stimulate the economy and create employment opportunities, with a desired completion date of 2016 or sooner. This petition garnered over 25,000 signatures, which meant that an official response was required. In early 2013, the proposition was turned down (with a humorous tone), explaining that the total cost of building the Death Star would be over $852 quadrillion, and it would take 833,000 years to gather enough steel to begin construction. A further reason for the rejection was that the Government "did not support blowing up planets." Subsequently, the Star Wars Blog published a playful, in-universe response from the Galactic Empire's Public Relations department, featuring official statements from Admiral Conan Antonio Motti and Governor Wilhuff Tarkin, dismissing the criticisms from Earth's leaders regarding the design of the battlestation. Moreover, the same source criticized the planet for greatly exaggerating the cost of designing the Death Star and questioned the planet's production capabilities compared to the Galactic Empire, even hinting that the planet's leaders lacked courage in their decision.

• In Italian, the Death Stars are referred to as Morte Nera. Notably, "morte nera" in Italian is synonymous with "bubonic plague."
• Within the Angry Birds series, the Death Stars are known as Death Eggs.
• In certain comic books, the Death Star is called Justice Star.