The world of Alderaan functioned as the primary seat of power for the New Galactic Empire.
Within the 1973 script outline and the 1974 script's initial version for A New Hope, the designation Alderaan was applied to the capital city of the New Galactic Empire. In the 1975 script's second iteration, Darth Vader detains Deak Starkiller on Alderaan, and in the 1975 script's third iteration, Vader holds Leia Organa as a captive on Alderaan. The treatment described it as a "city-planet" and the rough, second, and third drafts described it as a gas giant that resembled Bespin, with a city that resembled Cloud City on it.
Ogana Major was the initial designation in A New Hope's second script for the planet that ultimately became known as Alderaan. Aquilae, Utapau and Ophuchi were also evaluated as potential names for planets that shared some characteristics with Alderaan.