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Summary
The Death Star is the most iconic superweapon inStar Wars , and it ’s bit by bit become exculpated how it works . " That ’s no moonshine , " Han Solo declare when he place eye on the Death Star in the firstStar Warsmovie . He was veracious ; the Imperial battle - station was the most dangeroussuperweapon theStar Warsgalaxyhad see in a thousand years . Construction on the fiirst Death Star had actually begin before the twilight of the Republic , with Palpatine using the find of planted Death Star plans on Geonosis to generate fear the Separatists were working on the project , and the Republic had to puzzle them to it .
Thefirst Death Star take 20 years to make , in large part because the Sith had long since lost the cognition of how to power such technology . As seen inRogue One : A Star Wars Story , it was until Galen Erson learned to rig kyber crystals that the secret was rediscover and the Death Star became potential . But Erso was n’t just the scientist who discovered how to power the Death Star , he was also the one who sabotaged it . Here ’s how the Death Star works , and how he planted a weakness that allowed Luke Skywalker to destruct it with one shaft .
relate : How To check Star Wars Movies In Order
The Death Star’s Superlaser Is Powered By A “Hypermatter Reactor”
Star Warsis science - fantasy as much as it is science - fable , and it will surprise nobody to pick up the Death Star is power by something that does n’t exist in the real world -a gist called hypermatter . This is a fuel used in hyperdrives , formed when solar radiation comes into contact with materials extracted from the centre of sealed major planet . At the Redhurne system of rules , for good example , a supernova had crack the crusts of several worlds and turned the planets into a robust rootage of hypermatter .
Many starships - let in Imperial Star Destroyers - are powered by hypermatter annihilator reactor , which use hypermatter to trigger fusion . This mean that , in hypothesis , hypermatter annihilator reactor could be a reservoir of almost unlimited energy . The Death Star ’s reactor is alike to that of an ISD , a hypermatter annihilator reactor that should mean it can generate unlimited blasts .
Here ’s every coming Star Wars movie in development - including Rey ’s New Jedi Order , the Dawn of the Jedi , and The Mandalorian & Grogu !
Kyber Crystals Don’t Power The Death Star - They Focus Its Energy
Rogue One : A Star Wars Storyclearly establishedkyber crystalsas vital to the Death Star . These crystals are often wrong described as the magnate rootage of a Jedi ’s liightsaber , repurposed and buy to play a all important role in the Death Star , but in truth these crystals are not a tycoon source ; rather , they are a way of channel mightiness . In a lightsaber , the kyber crystals channel energy into the shape of a shimmering blade ; in the Death Star , they assist to focus the energy of the hypermatter reactor .
Eight massive clump of kyber channel the nuclear reactor ’s vigour toward a single point , where it is then released in a annihilative blast . This is why , as seen in the firstStar Warsmovie , eight stream of zip can be seen combine in the superlaser dish . The sheer amount of kyber used by the Death Stars is phenomenal ; the Empire combed the intact galaxy , collecting as much kyber as possible .
Why The Death Star Needed A Cooling Vent - & How Galen Erso Sabotaged It
The sum trouble , though , is thatthe Death Star ’s reactors of course expel a monolithic amount of push . matter were worsened by Grand Moff Tarkin ’s desire for the superweapon to have a swift recharge sentence , allow for multiple shots at stop number - potentially meaning low-down - level bang of the superweapon could be used to destroy capital ship , as seen inReturn of the Jedi . Alexander Freed ’s novelization ofRogue One : A Star Wars Storyreveals that Galen Erso , an unwilling collaborator on the Death Star project , used this to make a decisive helplessness in the Death Star .
modification made to the nuclear reactor to allowrapid firing off mean the reactor would overheat . Compartmentalization of tasks allow for Erso to conceal this fact until after these modifications had been made , and most of the superstructure had been discharge ( appropriately enough , this is likely the moment seen at theend ofAndorseason 1 ) . Erso propose three substitute solutions to the job he had created ; one command massive alteration to the superstructure , a second convoluted going back to the drawing board and hoping for a scientific breakthrough , andthe third was the installment of a very inefficient thermal exhaust port . The Empire signed off on the third - and Galen manipulated bureaucrats to avoid any inconvenient questions being asked .
The caloric fumes port was the Death Star ’s Achilles heel .
The thermal exhaust port was the Death Star ’s Achilles hound . It led directly to the nuclear reactor , meaning a skilled crack shot could blow the Empire ’s greatest superweapon up with a single pellet . This was still no easy exploit - the Death Star was heavily armed , after all - but all it took was the improver of the Force to make it possible . The Death Star was destroyed by Luke Skywalker , and his shot ignited the Galactic Civil War - giving the Galax urceolata ’s citizen hope the Empire could really be defeated . This is why Lucas retroactively called the firstStar Warsmovie " A New Hope " - because hope was born with the Death Star ’s death .
