Millennium Falcon

"You know, that ship's saved my life quite a few times. She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy!"

- Lando Calrissian

The Millennium Falcon was a Corellian YT-1300 light freighter used by the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca during the Galactic Civil War. It was previously owned by Lando Calrissian, who lost it to Solo in a game of sabacc.

Its aged appearance belied numerous advanced modifications to boost the ship's speed, weapons and shield, including sensor-proof smuggling compartments, which were used during the rescue of Princess Leia Organa to evade Imperial stormtroopers. Afterwards, the Millennium Falcon saw further action when Solo chose to join the Rebels during the Battle of Yavin, where it was able to sneak up on Darth Vader's modified TIE fighter.

After Han was captured on Bespin, Lando took command of the Falcon once more to search for him, and later flew the ship at the Battle of Endor, where it entered the Death Star II and destroyed it from within. During this battle, the starship's circular sensor dish was knocked off as Calrissian piloted it through the Death Star's interior.

In addition to its renowned hyperdrive, which made the Falcon boasted as the "fastest ship in the galaxy," the ship was equipped with a backup hyperdrive. Compared to the primary engine, it was much slower and often took several weeks or months to reach the nearest star system.

At some point over the following thirty years,, the sensor dish was replaced with a rectangular model.

Behind the scenes
It was speculated that the Falcon would make an appearance in Revenge of the Sith to further tie the prequel trilogy to the original trilogy, and the ship did indeed make a cameo in the movie. At the beginning of one shot closing in on a docking bay on Coruscant, a freighter is seen flying in to dock. George Lucas confirmed that it was the Millennium Falcon itself and not just another ship of the same class.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * A New Hope Read-Along Storybook and CD
 * The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight
 * Heir to the Jedi
 * Star Wars 1: Skywalker Strikes, Part I
 * Star Wars 2: Skywalker Strikes, Part II
 * Star Wars 3: Skywalker Strikes, Part III
 * Star Wars: Darth Vader 1: Vader
 * Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens