Skyhook/Legends



Skyhooks, or spacehooks, were repulsor craft that floated above the surface of a planet, but remained within its atmosphere, sometimes tethered by carbonite nanofibers. They were commonly symbols of status among the very wealthy, and were usually found on heavily-populated worlds, such as Coruscant.

History
Under the Galactic Republic, skyhooks were at one point banned due to the possibility of system failures which would send them crashing into the Coruscant surface. This fear was based on a rare occurrence, a combination of a lightning storm and a freak accident. Such accidents were only known to occur around once every century. Under the Galactic Empire, the skyhook ban was dropped.

After its conquest of Coruscant in 7 ABY, the New Republic made no moves to reinstitute the ban. However, when the Star Dreadnought Lusankya broke free from its berth under the planet's surface, she fired on a skyhook, destroying it and causing its remains to crash into the planet's surface, damaging several square kilometers of the cityscape.

In the aftermath of the massive ship's departure, the New Republic Provisional Council ordered the grounding of all skyhooks in the area of the city destroyed by the ship. Though a popular rumor stated that the Council had ordered the skyhooks down in order to spite former members of Rogue Squadron, the Council officially stated that its aim was to provide shelter to those who had had their homes destroyed in the Lusankya's escape.

By the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War, skyhooks were again a common sight in Coruscant.

Examples
Emperor Palpatine possessed a lavish skyhook in which he housed his greatest treasures, preferring to keep the most priceless ones in the air instead of in his palace. The botanist in charge of his orbiting garden was one of the best in the galaxy. When Prince Xizor attempted to hire him away from the Emperor's service the botanist was killed in a mysterious elevator 'accident', which no doubt occurred under the direction of Palpatine.

Prince Xizor, leader of the Black Sun criminal organization, also had his own skyhook, above Coruscant, which was known as Falleen's Fist. It was destroyed by Darth Vader when he commanded the Super Star Destroyer Executor to fire at it during the Battle of Prince Xizor's Skyhook. Xizor was killed when the skyhook was destroyed.



There were a number of other skyhooks operating on Coruscant, including one owned by Vader himself. One of these was the SoroSuub skyhook, which was offered to the former members of Rogue Squadron before the Council ordered the grounding of all skyhooks.

The economic powerhouse of Muunilinst had a skyhook connecting the orbital city of High Port with the capital Harnaidan, the skyhook tethered the station in place and allowed for cheap travel up and from the planet's surface.

On Kashyyyk, the Empire was constructing a skyhook to ferry Wookiee slaves to low orbit to be transferred to labor camps across the galaxy. But Galen Marek disabled the mooring points that kept the skyhook stable, causing it to be destroyed and allowing the remaining Wookiees to go into hiding.

Behind the scenes
In science fiction, skyhooks are hypothetical structures used for transporting material to and from a planet's surface into orbit, continuously supporting it rather than using rockets, catapults or hypothetical anti-gravity effects. The term was coined by scientist Giuseppe Colombo.

In real-life, it is an object that connects vertically earth with sky. For example atmospheric research balloons, types of helicopters etc. It is not clear which concept preceded which.

Appearances

 * Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
 * MedStar II: Jedi Healer
 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
 * The Force Unleashed novel
 * The Force Unleashed video game
 * The Force Unleashed comic
 * Death Star
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron 25: The Making of Baron Fel
 * Shadows of the Empire comic / novel
 * Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
 * X-wing: The Krytos Trap
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Edge of Victory I: Conquest
 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
 * Star by Star
 * The Unifying Force