Orbital assault pod

An orbital assault pod was a vessel designed to carry troopers to a planet's surface. Orbital assault pods were heavily armored and designed to fall towards the ground at high speeds, preventing the enemy from attacking it. Cygnus Spaceworks developed the AO-1 orbital assault pod for use by the Grand Army of the Republic, though Republic High Command scrapped the idea as they deemed it too dangerous. Cygnus later used their designs for the AO-1 to create the AO-2 Cometstrike-class orbital assault pod.