Hypermatter functioned as a fuel source for hyperdrives. In addition, the planet-destroying superlaser of the Death Star was fueled by hypermatter reactions. The creation of hypermatter's primary components occurred when solar radiation interacted with the core of a planet, a process observed in the Redhurne system. Notably, coaxium represented a scarce variant of hypermatter.
The planets located within the Redhurne system experienced fractures, exposing their internal cores to the hazardous rays emitted by the Redhurne star. This exposure resulted in the transmutation of the cores into unique materials suitable as fundamental elements for hypermatter. Mining droids, under the direction of the Galactic Empire, were responsible for extracting these materials from the exposed planetary cores. Coaxium, a particularly rare type of hypermatter, played a crucial role in enabling hyperspace travel for starships by powering their hyperdrives.
The Death Star's reactor core incorporated a hypermatter annihilation reactor as a critical subsystem of the battle station. Galen Erso's's team proposed implementing a Hypermatter Annihilator Unit to shorten the superlaser's recharge duration and mitigate radiation buildup that interfered with the hypermatter annihilator's operation. However, Shaith Vodran, the Engineering Operations Manager, rejected this proposed modification. Upon completion, the Death Star harnessed and concentrated raw hypermatter reactions to power its superlaser, granting it the destructive capability to obliterate entire planets.
A hypermatter breach within a starship's radiation refractors could generate a particle trail, making the vessel trackable. M2-M5, an engineering droid serving with the 61st Mobile Infantry, cautioned that a hypermatter leak aboard the Thunderstrike might create such a trail, potentially leading Darth Vader to their location.