Book of Imperial Shuttle Plans: Cygnus Spaceworks

The Book of Imperial Shuttle Plans: Cygnus Spaceworks is a piece of high-quality fan-art produced under the Lawrence Miller Design label, apparently in 1984. It has sometimes been mistaken for an official, LucasFilm-authorized product.

The "book" consists of an envelope with three blueprint sheets for an "Imperial Shuttle" that is essentially the Lambda-class shuttle from Return of the Jedi. It is of note because it apparently uses the name of Cygnus Spaceworks almost a decade before any official source, and it has been mistaken for an official publication by at least one influential fansite, the Star Wars Technical Commentaries. It is not clear how the name of Cygnus Spaceworks should have found its way into official material from here, but it appears that Shane Johnson, one of the first official authors to reference Cygnus Spaceworks, has worked with Miller on at least one project (a Star Trek fan production entitled the U.S.S. Enterprise Officer's Manual - Revised.) Johnson's use of Cygnus Spaceworks may have been a homage to Miller's work.

However, beyond the actual shuttle plan (which would appear to be based on the published set plan in 1983's The Art of Star Wars Return of the Jedi), the only element which bears any direct connection with canon is the name of "General A.F. Motti", clearly referencing that of Admiral Motti. The shuttle is said to be part of the otherwise unknown "Cygnus Star Empire", and an appended list of star-systems fits poorly with established Star Wars canon; although a few of these represent real stars visible from Earth, they would appear to be primarily references to locations in other works of science fiction, specifically cult-classic TV series such as Doctor Who and the original 1960s Star Trek series. These have the amusing effect of implying that the shuttle satisfies the safety standards of the Daleks, the Romulans, and a society based on 1920s-style Chicago gangsters.


 * Altair &mdash; this is a real star, but the system has been mentioned several times in Star Trek. It is unlikely that there is a direct connection between the blueprints and the canonical Altair 9.
 * Atrios &mdash; a fictional planet from Dr Who.
 * Beta 6 &mdash; the "Beta VI colony" is mentioned in the classic Star Trek episode The Squire of Gothos.
 * Ceti Alpha &mdash; although resembling the name of the real star Alpha Ceti, the specific name of Ceti Alpha is from Star Trek.
 * Coridan &mdash; a fictitious planet from Star Trek. It is unlikely that there is a direct connection with the canonical planet Corridan, although this may be a reference back to the original location in Star Trek.
 * Cygnus &mdash; the putative capital of the "Cygnus Star Empire", giving rise to the name of the Cygnus Spaceworks that apparently found its way from here into canon. The "Cygnus Star System" is the only location that seems genuinely original to the blueprint; probably named for the real constellation Cygnus, the Swan, although the name of the "Pyxidis Asteroid Belt", said to be in this star-system, would rather imply a location in the constellation Pyxis, the Compass. However, planets with similar names are also known in Star Wars (Cygnus B), Star Trek (Alpha Cygnus IX), Doctor Who (Cygnus Gap and Cygnus A), and the British sci-fi series Blake's 7 (Cygnus Alpha). Cygnus Alpha was also apparently the name of a sci-fi fanzine. Any one of these could perhaps have inspired the name used here.
 * Daria - a fictional planet from Space 1999.
 * Delta Magna &mdash; a fictitious planet from Dr Who.
 * Deneb &mdash; a real star also mentioned in Star Trek.
 * Holberg 917 &mdash; Holberg 917G is a fictional planet in Star Trek.
 * Janus &mdash; Janus VI is a fictional planet in Star Trek.
 * Omega &mdash; in Star Trek, Holberg 917G (see above) is in the Omega system, and there is also a planet named Omega IV.
 * Piri &mdash; a fictional planet from Space 1999.
 * Pollux &mdash; a real star, also the primary for the fictional planet Pollux IV in Star Trek.
 * Remus &mdash; a fictional planet in Star Trek.
 * Rigel &mdash; a real star and a location in Star Trek. It is probably only a coincidence that a planet named Rigel VII had appeared in official Star Wars material in 1978.
 * Sigma Iotia &mdash; Sigma Iotia II is a fictional planet from Star Trek.
 * Skaro &mdash; the fictional homeworld of the Daleks in Dr Who.
 * Sol &mdash; the Latin name for the Sun. It is popular as a designation in sci-fi series such as Star Trek.
 * Talos &mdash; the name of a star system in Star Trek.
 * Tau Ceti &mdash; a real star that has also appeared several times in Star Trek.
 * Vega &mdash; real star and also the name of a star system in Star Trek.
 * Xerius &mdash; reference unknown, though it is the name of a Romulan character in the 1970s Star Trek animated series.
 * Zeon &mdash; a fictional planet in Star Trek.