Summary
- The Death Star is powered by a fictional substance called hypermatter, which is formed from solar radiation and certain planetary materials.
- Kyber crystals are not the power source of the Death Star, but rather they focus and channel the energy of the hypermatter reactor for devastating blasts.
- Galen Erso sabotaged the Death Star by creating a critical weakness in its reactor, leading to the installation of a thermal exhaust port which became its Achilles heel and allowed Luke Skywalker to destroy it with a single shot.
The Death Star is the most iconic superweapon in 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.
The first Death Star took 20 years to make, in large part because the Sith had long since lost the knowledge of how to power such technology. As seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, it was until Galen Erson learned to manipulate kyber crystals that the secret was rediscovered and the Death Star became possible. But Erso wasn'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 destroy it with one shot.
The Death Star's Superlaser Is Powered By A "Hypermatter Reactor"
Star Wars is science-fantasy as much as it is science-fiction, and it will surprise nobody to learn the Death Star is powered by something that doesn't exist in the real world - a substance called hypermatter. This is a fuel used in hyperdrives, formed when solar radiation comes into with materials extracted from the core of certain planets. At the Redhurne system, for example, a supernova had cracked the crusts of several worlds and turned the planets into a rich source of hypermatter.
Many starships - including Imperial Star Destroyers - are powered by hypermatter annihilator reactors, which use hypermatter to trigger fusion. This means that, in theory, hypermatter annihilator reactors could be a source of almost unlimited energy. The Death Star's reactor is similar to that of an ISD, a hypermatter annihilator reactor that should mean it can generate unlimited blasts.
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Kyber Crystals Don't Power The Death Star - They Focus Its Energy
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story clearly established kyber crystals as vital to the Death Star. These crystals are often incorrectly described as the power source of a Jedi's liightsaber, repurposed and corrupted to play a crucial role in the Death Star, but in truth these crystals are not a power source; rather, they are a way of channeling power. In a lightsaber, the kyber crystals channel energy into the shape of a shimmering blade; in the Death Star, they serve to focus the energy of the hypermatter reactor.
Eight massive chunks of kyber channel the reactor's energy toward a single point, where it is then released in a devastating blast. This is why, as seen in the first Star Wars movie, eight streams of energy can be seen combining in the superlaser dish. The sheer amount of kyber used by the Death Stars is phenomenal; the Empire combed the entire galaxy, collecting as much kyber as possible.
Why The Death Star Needed A Cooling Vent - & How Galen Erso Sabotaged It
The core problem, though, is that the Death Star's reactors naturally released a massive amount of energy. Matters were worsened by Grand Moff Tarkin's desire for the superweapon to have a swift recharge time, allowing for multiple shots at speed - potentially meaning lower-level blasts of the superweapon could be used to destroy capital ships, as seen in Return of the Jedi. Alexander Freed's novelization of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story reveals that Galen Erso, an unwilling collaborator on the Death Star project, used this to create a critical weakness in the Death Star.
Modifications made to the reactor to allow rapid firing meant the reactor would overheat. Compartmentalization of tasks allowed Erso to conceal this fact until after these modifications had been made, and most of the superstructure had been completed (appropriately enough, this is likely the moment seen at the end of Andor season 1). Erso proposed three alternative solutions to the problem he had created; one required massive alterations to the superstructure, a second involved going back to the drawing board and hoping for a scientific breakthrough, and the third was the installation 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 thermal exhaust port was the Death Star's Achilles heel.
The thermal exhaust port was the Death Star's Achilles heel. It led straight to the reactor, meaning a skilled marksman could blow the Empire's greatest superweapon up with a single shot. This was still no easy feat - the Death Star was heavily armed, after all - but all it took was the addition 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 galaxy's citizens hope the Empire could truly be defeated. This is why Lucas retroactively called the first Star Wars movie "A New Hope" - because hope was born with the Death Star's destruction.
