Shield Gate

The Shield Gate was an Imperial space station placed in orbit around the planet Scarif, an Imperial world housing the Empire's Imperial Center of Military Research, a research and development site for the Death Star project. The station consisted of a gray, wheel-shaped structure with six adjacently-facing hangar bays that housed many TIE/ln space superiority starfighters.

The gate station's purpose was to allow passage through Scarif's otherwise impenetrable planet-encompassing deflector shield. As Imperial starships and cargo approached, a gate officer that was part of Gate Control would scan the vessel's clearance codes and activate two massive arms that would be lowered in front of the deflector shield generators to create an opening in the center of the station, allowing the vessels access to the planet's atmosphere. In case of an attack to the system, the shield could be sealed just as fast by retracting the arms, allowing the field to flow back and close the opening. The shield's size meant that a shield relay systems operator had to carefully monitor deflector field dynamics in order to prevent dangerous buildup by stellar wind aurorae in the generators.

The Gate station's importance for the ICMR's protection made it a key aspect in Project Stardust's operation; as such it was defended by multiple turbolaser turrets strategically scattered in its surface and accurate enough to track down and destroy starfighter-sized targets. The gate's frame was reinforced and its projectors were so powerful that even multiple hits from proton torpedoes couldn't damage it. The only way to deactivate the field was to destroy the entire station which could be done through a collision with a larger starship.

Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, as part of their mission to steal the plans to the Empire's planet-destroying superweapon, the Death Star, the Alliance to Restore the Republic launched an assault on Scarif. After Rogue One, led by Jyn Erso, went through the gate to steal the plans from the Citadel Tower, the Alliance sent several T-65B X-wing starfighters to enter the Shield Gate and attack the planet's military installations. Even though the Empire attempted to close the Shield Gate to protect the complex, some of the fighters were able to fly through and attack the base, before the Rebels destroyed the gate and disrupted the planetary shield by hurling two Imperial Star Destroyers into the space station with the Lightmaker. This victory eventually led to the successful theft of the plans and the destruction of the Death Star.

The Shield Gate was created and developed for the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The first footage of the Shield Gate was shown in the second Rogue One trailer on October 13, 2016.

Earlier in Rogue Ones production, the Shield Gate was envisioned as a planetary ring that acted as a construction site for Star Destroyers as well as a refueling and resurfacing station for the Empire.