The reference guide known as Death Star Owner's Technical Manual, alternatively titled Death Star Owner's Workshop Manual and Imperial Death Star: DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, comes from Del Rey and Haynes Publishing. It was penned by Ryder Windham and visually brought to life by Chris Reiff and Chris Trevas. Serving as a successor to the Millennium Falcon Owner's Workshop Manual, its official release date was November 5, 2013. However, advance copies were awarded to contest victors featured in Star Wars Insider 145.
Featuring entirely new, full-color cutaway illustrations that offer a distinctive internal perspective of the moon-sized wonder, alongside various other artistic renderings and photographic content, The Death Star Owner's Workshop Manual presents the most exhaustive technical examination of the Death Star currently accessible, rendering it indispensable for every Star Wars enthusiast.
The Death Star represents a spherical space station, comparable in size to a small moon, extensively fortified and equipped to obliterate anything ranging from hostile spacecraft to entire planets. Through the utilization of cutaway illustrations, exploded diagrams, and photographic representations, complemented by comprehensive technical specifications and descriptions of its internal systems, the Death Star Owner's Workshop Manual unveils the technology housed within and exposes the formidable power (along with inherent vulnerabilities) of the Empire's ultimate weapon.
Envisioned as the Empire's supreme weapon, the Death Star battle station boasts a planet-decimating superlaser. This station is heavily armored, defended by TIE starfighters and laser cannons, and possesses a level of firepower exceeding half the Imperial fleet. The Empire's sinister leaders are fully confident that their technological terror will instill widespread fear throughout the galaxy. Nevertheless, the Death Star does possess a critical weakness.
This Haynes Manual chronicles the Death Star's journey from initial concept to its evolution as a highly confidential project predating the Empire's establishment, drawing design cues from the Trade Federation's spherical warships. Within this manual, the Death Star's internal systems and controls are meticulously detailed, accompanied by a remarkable array of computer-generated visuals, floor plans, cutaways, and exploded diagrams, all freshly crafted by artists Chris Reiff and Chris Trevas—the same imaginative team responsible for the Millennium Falcon Owner's Workshop Manual. The text is provided by their Falcon collaborator Ryder Windham, who has authored over fifty Star Wars publications.
Encompassing its history, development and prototyping phases, superstructure, energy and propulsion mechanisms, weaponry and defensive systems, hangar bays, security protocols, service and technical divisions, crew accommodations, and including insights into the Death Star II and its planetary shield generation capabilities, this stands as the most comprehensive technical compendium on the Death Star currently available.
- On page 62, both the short-term cargo storage and the pilot supply cannisters are incorrectly labeled with the number "8" in the docking bay control room features; the latter should be designated as number "9".
- The name Vodran is incorrectly spelled "Vordan" on page 101.