An event took place during the early years of the Imperial Era at the Project Celestial Power facility, which belonged to the Imperial, and was situated on the planet of Malpaz. After some experimentation with kyber crystals, Imperial scientists were unable to keep the crystal contained, and the resulting energy led to a chain of enormous explosions. These explosions obliterated the facility and rapidly spread to the Malpaz capital city, leading to its destruction. As a result of the fires and nuclear fallout that followed the damage to the city's nuclear power plant, more than ten thousand civilians would perish.
After this event, Orson Krennic of Project Celestial Power addressed the team and ultimately gave the order for their "removal." The public was told that the event was an attack by Separatists. When the scientist Galen Erso traveled to Malpaz, Krennic told him this story, asserting that the facility's research had nothing to do with the destruction. Erso, however, later figured out what really happened and understood that the Empire was trying to turn his kyber research into a weapon.