Editing Death Star (section)

===Original Death Star===
The original Death Star's completed form appears in the original ''Star Wars'' film, known as the '''''DS-1'' Orbital Battle Station''', or '''Project Stardust''' in ''Rogue One''; before learning the true name of the weapon, the Rebel Alliance referred to it as the "Planet Killer".<ref name="rogue-one-film">{{cite AV media|title=[[Rogue One|Rogue One: A Star Wars Story]]|date=December 16, 2016|people=Edwards, Gareth (Director)|publisher=[[Lucasfilm]]}}</ref> Commanded by [[Grand Moff Tarkin|Governor Tarkin]], it is the [[Galactic Empire (Star Wars)|Galactic Empire]]'s "ultimate weapon",{{efn|The space station is also called "Ultimate Weapon" by the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS), who commissioned the original designs.}} a huge spherical battle station {{convert|160|km}} in diameter capable of destroying a planet with one shot of its superlaser.

[[File:Vaderrots.jpeg|thumb|left|[[Emperor Palpatine]] (left) and [[Darth Vader]] (right) oversee the construction of the first Death Star in ''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]]''.]]
The film opens with [[Princess Leia]] transporting the station's [[schematics]] to the [[Rebel Alliance]] to aid them in destroying the Death Star.<ref name="star wars 4-quote">{{cite AV media|title=[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope]]|date=May 25, 1977|people=Lucas, George (Director)|publisher=[[20th Century Fox]]|quote='''General Tagge:''' If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical readout of this station, it is possible, however unlikely, that they might find a weakness and exploit it.}}</ref> To mark the Death Star being fully operational, Tarkin orders the Death Star to destroy Leia's home world of [[Alderaan]] in an attempt to press her into giving him the location of the secret Rebel headquarters; she gives them the location of [[Dantooine]], which housed a now-deserted Rebel base, but Tarkin has Alderaan destroyed anyway as a demonstration of the Empire's resolve. Later, [[Luke Skywalker]], [[Han Solo]], [[Chewbacca]], [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]], [[C-3PO]], and [[R2-D2]] (who were intended to arrive at Alderaan on board the ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'') are pulled aboard the station by a [[tractor beam]], where they discover and manage to rescue Princess Leia.  As they make their escape, Obi-Wan sacrifices himself whilst dueling [[Darth Vader]], enabling the others to flee the station. Later, Luke returns as part of a fighter force to attack its only weak point: a ray-shielded particle exhaust vent leading straight from the surface directly into its reactor core, discovered previously from the stolen schematics. Luke is able to successfully launch his [[X-wing fighter]]'s torpedoes into the vent, impacting the core and triggering a catastrophic explosion, which destroys the station before it can annihilate the Rebel base on [[Yavin 4]].<ref name="star wars 4">{{cite AV media|people=Lucas, George (Director)|title=[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope]]|publisher=[[20th Century Fox]]|date=May 25, 1977|medium=DVD|edition=2004}}</ref>

The Death Star's schematics are visible in the scenes on [[Geonosis]] in ''[[Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones]]'', evidently designed by [[Geonosian]]s led by Archduke [[Poggle the Lesser]], a member of the [[Confederacy of Independent Systems]],<ref name="star wars 2">{{cite AV media|people=Lucas, George (Director)|title=[[Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones]]|publisher=[[20th Century Fox]]|date=May 16, 2002}}</ref> and is shown early in construction at the end of ''Episode III – Revenge of the Sith''.<ref name="star wars 3">{{cite AV media|people=Lucas, George (Director)|title=[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]]|publisher=[[20th Century Fox]]|date=May 19, 2005}}</ref> ''The Clone Wars'' Legacy story reel from the unfinished ''Crystal Crisis on Utapau'' episodes reveals that [[General Grievous]] went to [[Utapau (Star Wars)|Utapau]] prior to ''Revenge of the Sith'' in order to acquire an enormous [[kyber crystal]] to power the Death Star's superlaser.<ref>{{cite web|title=Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Story Reel: A Death on Utapau - Star Wars: The Clone Wars|url=https://www.starwars.com/video/star-wars-the-clone-wars-story-reel-a-death-on-utapau|access-date=October 22, 2016|archive-date=October 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024170526/http://www.starwars.com/video/star-wars-the-clone-wars-story-reel-a-death-on-utapau|url-status=live}}</ref>

As depicted in ''[[Rogue One]]'' and ''[[Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel]]'' (2016), the Death Star was worked on by a team of engineers sequestered on the rainswept world of [[Eadu]], overseen by [[Orson Krennic]], the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military. Under Krennic's supervision, the project was beset by constant delays, and he forcibly recruited weapons designer [[Galen Erso]] (the father of [[Jyn Erso]], the film's protagonist) to complete the design. The Death Star scientists sought to fuse [[kyber crystal]] shards into larger structures and used those crystals to amplify energy into a stable beam powerful enough to destroy an entire planet.<ref name="rogue-one-film" /><ref name="rogue-one-catalyst-novel">{{cite book |last=Luceno |first=James |date=November 15, 2016 |title=Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel |publisher=Del Rey Books |isbn=978-0-345-51149-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/catalystrogueone00luce }}</ref>{{Pages needed|date=April 2019}} In the [[Disney+]] series, [[Andor (TV series)|''Andor'']], set after the novel but before the film, prisoners of the Imperial Prison Complex in Narkina 5, including [[Cassian Andor]], who got sent to the prison during his time as Keef Girgo, worked on Imperial equipment during their shifts, which was revealed in the post-credits scene of the first season's final episode, ''Rix Road'', to be parts built for the superlaser.

The 2014 book ''[[Star Wars: Tarkin]]'' details the life of Grand Moff Tarkin and prominently features the Death Star. ''Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel'' tells the story of the development of the Death Star's superweapon by Galen Erso and Krennic's deception of him. It also reveals how Poggle worked with Krennic on the project but then turned on him.<ref>{{cite news|date=September 1, 2016|title=Rogue One Prequel Book Reveals Secret Origins of the Death Star|agency=MovieWeb.com|url=http://movieweb.com/star-wars-rogue-one-prequel-novel-death-star-origins/|access-date=September 21, 2016|archive-date=September 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923041848/http://movieweb.com/star-wars-rogue-one-prequel-novel-death-star-origins/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the animated series ''Star Wars Rebels'', the two-part episode "Ghosts of Geonosis" hints that the Geonosians were nearly wiped out to extinction out of the Empire's need for secrecy. [[Saw Gerrera]], having been sent to Geonosis to investigate, deduces that the Empire possesses a superweapon and resolves to discover the Death Star as depicted in the two-part episode "In the Name of the Rebellion". Though it is a dead end, Saw learns that the weapon is powered by kyber crystals taken from the [[Jedha]] system.

''Rogue One'' focuses on a band of Rebels stealing the Death Star plans just prior to the events of ''A New Hope''. The Death Star is first used to destroy Jedha City, both as a response to a violent insurgency on the planet and as a display of the Death Star's operational status. Tarkin assumes control over the Death Star while Krennic investigates security breaches in the design project. It is subsequently revealed that Galen discreetly sabotaged the design by building a vulnerability into the reactor. After the Death Star plans are stolen from the Scarif vault, Tarkin fires the Death Star's superlaser on the base, killing Krennic, as well as Jyn Erso and her small band of rebels.<ref name="rogue-one-film" /> ''Rogue One'' also reveals that the Death Star's superlaser is powered by multiple reactors, allowing it to vary its destructive power depending on the target; both the attack on Jedha City and the Scarif base used a single reactor.

According to ''Star Wars'' reference books, the population of the Death Star was 1.7 million military personnel, 400,000 maintenance droids, and 250,000 civilians, associated contractors and catering staff.<ref name="Star Wars: Complete Locations">Star Wars: Complete Locations</ref><ref name="Star Wars: Death Star Battles">{{cite book |last1=Beecroft |first1=Simon |url=https://archive.org/details/starwars0000beec |title=Star Wars: Death Star Battles |date=2010 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |location=London, UK |url-access=registration}}</ref>
The Death Star was defended by thousands of turbolasers, ion cannons and laser cannons, plus a complement of seven to nine thousand TIE fighters, along with tens of thousands of support craft. It also had several massive docking bays, including dry docks capable of accommodating [[Star Destroyer]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=01. Star Wars Incredible Cross Sections - The Ultimate Guide to Star Wars Vehicles and Spacecraft [David West Reynolds] [1998] |url=https://archive.org/details/02.starwarsincrediblecrosssectionstheultimateguidetostarwarsvehiclesspacecraftdavidwestreynolds1998/page/n7/mode/2up |website=Internet Archive |access-date=September 27, 2021 |pages=8–9 |format=PDF file |date=March 1, 2020}}</ref>

A hologram of the original Death Star is briefly visible in a scene at the Resistance base in ''The Force Awakens'' and used as a means of comparison with one from the [[First Order (Star Wars)|First Order]]'s own superweapon, Starkiller Base.<ref name="star wars 7">{{cite AV media|title=[[Star Wars: The Force Awakens]]|date=December 18, 2015|people=Abrams, J.J. (Director)|publisher=[[Lucasfilm]]}}</ref>