The undertaking known as Project Stardust, which was also referred to as the Death Star project and the Ultimate Weapon project, involved the construction of the original Death Star. In the year 21 BBY, under the direction of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, the Galactic Republic initiated the clandestine construction of the Death Star on Geonosis. Following the conclusion of the Clone Wars and the subsequent transformation of the Republic into the initial Galactic Empire, the nearly completed Death Star was relocated to Scarif for final adjustments and the commencement of operations.
The Imperial initiative to develop the superweapon recognized as the Death Star was codenamed Project Stardust. Although the project's culmination, a fully operational weapon, wouldn't be realized until 1 BBY, the preliminary efforts commenced during the Clone Wars. It was during this time that the then Galactic Republic obtained the designs for the battle station from the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
Ultimately, Project Stardust resulted in the creation of a superweapon with the capacity to obliterate entire planets. Despite the destruction of the first Death Star by the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Battle of Yavin, the Empire proceeded to develop a second Death Star, which also met its end at the Battle of Endor.
The designation "Project Stardust" originated from a pivotal scientist, Doctor Galen Walton Erso, who affectionately called his daughter Jyn "stardust." Erso eventually deserted Project Stardust and the Empire to avoid witnessing the superweapon's completion. However, he was eventually hunted down and compelled to return to Project Stardust.
During the First Battle of Geonosis, Sith Lord Darth Tyranus received the Death Star plans from Geonosian leader Poggle the Lesser, which were created by his weaponsmiths. He then transported these plans to Coruscant to deliver them to his Master, Darth Sidious, who was publicly known as the malevolent Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine of the Galactic Republic.
During the Clone Wars period, Chancellor Palpatine initiated the Death Star project in secrecy under the Republic's banner, with only a select few individuals aware of its existence. Personnel from both the Republic Special Weapons Group and the Strategic Advisory Cell were entrusted with the responsibility of advancing the project. Commander Orson Callan Krennic, a member of both organizations, exhibited a particularly strong determination to develop the superweapon as a means of establishing peace throughout the galaxy.
Jedi General Aayla Secura nearly uncovered the plans when she infilitrated the Secret Research Facility situated on an unmapped moon. However, she was intercepted by Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress, who engaged Secura in a lightsaber duel and retrieved the plans.
Later in the Clone Wars, Sidious obtained a sizable kyber crystal from Utapau, intending to use it for Project Stardust. However, the kyber crystal was destroyed by Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. This necessitated the world's occupation to continue the search for similar crystals.
Following the Clone Wars' conclusion, the Republic's downfall, the destruction of the Jedi Order, and the rise of the first Galactic Empire, the now-Galactic Emperor Palpatine persisted with Project Stardust. Construction commenced on Geonosis, but after three months, the Geonosians betrayed the Empire and began sabotaging their own work. Despite this setback, the Empire steadfastly channeled resources into ensuring Project Stardust's completion. In 18 BBY, the research conducted for Project Necromancer by the Imperial cloning program was lost and various wings its facility, Tantiss Base, was severely damaged while Chief Scientist Doctor Royce Hemlock and several stormtroopers of the Advanced Science Division died during an attack led by Clone Force 99. Believing Hemlock’s failings had costed them enough, Krennic’s rival Governor Wilhuff Tarkin ordered Captain Bragg to shutter Tantiss Base indefinitely and redistribute all funding and remaining assets to Project Stardust. By 5 BBY, a significant portion of the station had been constructed.
During the concluding phases of the Lothal campaign, Krennic, now Director of the Imperial Weapons Division, convinced the Imperial Security Bureau to reallocate funding from Grand Admiral Thrawn’s TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter program to Project Stardust until its completion, following the Rescue of Hera Syndulla. This was because Governor Arihnda Pryce inadvertently caused the Imperial Armory Complex to cease operations.
Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, the Rebel Alliance stole the Death Star plans, thanks to the efforts of Rogue One. The plans themselves were codenamed Stardust, which allowed Jyn, recently recruited by the Rebel Alliance, to recognize them and transmit them to the Alliance Fleet before her death.
Following the Battle of Scarif, the plans were dispatched to Princess Leia Organa aboard the Tantive IV. As the plans journeyed to Tatooine within the astromech droid R2-D2, they eventually reached the moon Yavin 4. There, the rebels identified a vulnerability in the form of an exhaust port, leading her older twin brother Jedi Lieutenant Luke Skywalker to bring Project Stardust to an end when he destroyed the Death Star and killed Governor Tarkin and most of the Empire’s elite forces.
The First Order's Starkiller Base drew inspiration from and was modeled after the outcomes of Project Stardust.
Project Stardust made its initial appearance, though unnamed, in the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. The project was formally identified later in the one-shot issue Darth Vader Annual 2, authored by Chuck Wendig and released by Marvel Comics in 2018.