The Junkfort system, once referred to as the Kossimur system for millennia before the Battle of Yavin, existed within the Tharin sector of the Outer Rim Territories. Within it was the well-known shadowport space station called Junkfort Station. The star system was at one point a part of the empire ruled by the Tionese conqueror Xim. It later became part of Hutt Space and also fell under the territorial control of the Sith. By 17 BBY, it was located within the boundaries of the Galactic Empire.
Han Solo, the smuggler, along with his copilot Chewbacca, made a visit to Junkfort Station while searching for a power gem, a rare artifact. An agent working for the former pirate Raskar eventually directed them to the planet Antipose, where a power gem was indeed located. Subsequently, Solo and Chewbacca left the space station. Almost thirty years afterwards, Junkfort Station was captured by forces belonging to the Yuuzhan Vong species from beyond the galaxy, as part of their invasion.
The Junkfort system existed in the Slice region of the Outer Rim Territories, specifically within the Tharin sector. It was positioned along the Triellus Trade Route, a super-hyperroute that provided connections to the Nimat and Marleyvane systems. The Lesser Lantillian Route hyperlane also linked the system to the Dernatine system in the Suolriep sector, while the Cadma Conduit connected it to the Dagelin Minor and Simbarc systems found within the Cadma sector. The Junkfort system included at least two [brown](/article/color-legends] celestial objects in addition to the space station known as Junkfort Station.
Between 25,102 BBY and roughly 11,000 BBY, the Junkfort system bore the name Kossimur system. Sometime between 25,102 BBY and 25,096 BBY, Xim, the Tionese conqueror, brought the system into his empire and moved his forces from the Tialvai system using a hyperlane that linked it to Kossimur, and subsequently using routes to the Dernatine and Lelrais systems.
The Galactic Republic explored the space around the Junkfort system at some point between 15,000 BBY and 8000 BBY. In 11,920 BBY, as part of the Fourth Crusade against the Hutt species, the Pius Dea–controlled Republic initiated an attack from the Ord Zat outpost targeting the system. Between 1004 BBY and 1000 BBY, the Junkfort system existed within the space controlled by members of the Sith tradition of Force-users. By that time, it also formed a portion of the Hutt Space region. By 32 BBY, the system was no longer technically within the borders of Hutt Space, though it remained within the Hutt sphere of influence.
During the initial campaigns of the Clone Wars in 22 BBY, the Thirteenth Sector Army of the Republic was given the task of engaging the military forces belonging to the Confederacy of Independent Systems in the area surrounding the Junkfort system. Shortly after the planet Ukio was acquired by the Commerce Guild during that conflict, the Junkfort system was shown on a galactic map displayed on a viewscreen at a facility operated by Passel Argente, the Magistrate of the Corporate Alliance.
Near the end of the war in 19 BBY, General Grievous of the Confederacy, who was responsible for protecting the Confederacy's Separatist Council, was compelled to evacuate the council from the planet Belderone, located in the sector of the same name. As they traveled along the Triellus Trade Route toward Utapau, a world in the Tarabba sector where the council was to be relocated, the Confederate forces passed through the Junkfort system. By 17 BBY, the system had become part of the Galactic Empire. Han Solo, a smuggler, later visited Junkfort Station at some point before 0 BBY while on a mission for a Hutt employer.
In 0 ABY, Princess Leia Organa tasked Solo with locating and acquiring a power gem, a rare artifact made of a meteoritic mineral capable of deactivating the deflector shields of starships. This was to assist the Rebel Alliance in their fight against the new Star Dreadnought, the Executor, belonging to Darth Vader, the Sith Lord. Solo, intending to begin his search for these gems in the galactic underworld, traveled from the Alliance base on the Gordian Reach moon Yavin 4 to Junkfort Station in the Millennium Falcon, his [light freighter](/article/yt-1300_light_freighter-legends], accompanied by Chewbacca, his copilot.
Once aboard the space station, the two inquired with various spacers in a local cantina for any information regarding power gems. Eventually, an agent working for Raskar, a former pirate, directed Chewbacca to Antipose, a Centrality planet where Raskar held profitable gladiatorial contests, with the gem serving as the grand prize. Following this, Solo and Chewbacca departed Junkfort Station, heading for Antipose. Sometime between 26 ABY and 27 ABY, during their invasion of the galaxy, Junkfort Station was captured by members of the Yuuzhan Vong species. The station remained under the control of these invaders until at least 27 ABY.
Junkfort Station, located in the Junkfort system, was a well-known shadowport often visited by starships seeking illicit modifications and equipment. In 0 ABY, the space station's cantina was a popular spot for Basic-speaking patrons of various species. Around 25 ABY, the Junkfort system had a population of between one and ten million.
The area of space where Junkfort Station was situated first appeared in "The Power Gem," a comic story penned by Archie Goodwin, with art by Al Williamson. It was published between July 26 and October 3, 1982 as part of the daily Star Wars comic strip distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate to major newspapers in America and Canada from 1979 to 1984. The reference book The Essential Atlas, released in 2009 and written by Daniel Wallace and Jason Fry, officially named the star system and placed it in grid square T-8.