Star Wars: How The Death Star Works & Why Luke Could Destroy It With One Shot

The Death Star is the most iconic superweapon in Star Wars, and it’s gradually become clear how it works. “That’s no moon,” Han Solo declared when he set eyes on the Death Star in the first Star Wars movie. He was right; the Imperial battle-station was the most dangerous superweapon the Star Wars galaxy had seen in a thousand years. Construction on the fiirst Death Star had actually begun before the fall of the Republic, with Palpatine using the discovery of planted Death Star plans on Geonosis to generate fear the Separatists were working on the project, and the Republic had to beat them to it.