Shield Gate

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"This is Gold Leader, we're starting our attack run on the shield gate."

The Shield Gate was a wheel-shaped space station put in orbit around the tropical Outer Rim planet of Scarif by the Galactic Empire. It served as an opening through which Imperial starships could bypass the planet's otherwise impenetrable deflector shield. During the Battle of Scarif, the Rebel Alliance launched a successful assault on the station, allowing them to bypass the shield and attack Scarif's Imperial security complex.

Description[edit | edit source]

The Shield Gate was an Imperial space station placed in orbit around the planet Scarif, an Imperial world housing the Empire's security complex, a research and development site for the Death Star project. The station consisted of a gray, wheel-shaped structure with six adjacently-facing hangar bays that housed many TIE/ln space superiority starfighters. The purpose of the Shield Gate was to allow passage through Scarif's encompassing deflector shield. As Imperial starships and cargo approached, a gate officer would give clearance and create an opening in the center of the station, allowing the vessels access to the planet's surface.^[2]

History[edit | edit source]

Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, as part of their mission to steal the plans to the Empire's planet-destroying superweapon, the Death Star, the Alliance to Restore the Republic launched an assault on Scarif. After Rogue One, led by Jyn Erso, went through the gate to steal the plans from the Citadel Tower, the Alliance sent several T-65B X-wing starfighters to enter the Shield Gate and attack the planet's military installations. Even though the Empire attempted to close the Shield Gate to protect the complex, some of the fighters were able to fly through and attack the base, before the Rebels destroyed the gate and disrupted the planetary shield by hurling two Imperial Star Destroyers into the space station with the Lightmaker.^[2] This victory eventually led to the successful theft of the plans and the destruction of the Death Star.^[6]

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

Early concept art for the Shield Gate, envisioned as a planetary ring

The Shield Gate was created and developed for the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The first footage of the Shield Gate was shown in the second Rogue One trailer on October 13, 2016.

Earlier in Rogue One's production, the Shield Gate was envisioned as a planetary ring that acted as a construction site for Star Destroyers as well as a refueling and resurfacing station for the Empire.^[7]