The Galactic Price Tag: What It Would Really Cost to Build and Run the Death Star

The majority of the political ramifications that occur within the \”Star Wars\” universe during the Rise of the Empire era are based on the development, construction, operation, and
destruction of the original Death Star.
First introduced to audiences in 1977 in \”Star Wars: A New Hope\” (and chronologically through its schematics in \”Star Wars: Attack of the Clones\”), this space station and superweapon was the physical embodiment of the Empire\’s supremacy over the galaxy.

Naturally, the construction and operations of the Death Star would cost, well, an astronomical amount of money. As Dr. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) from \”Jurassic Park\” would say, the Empire \”spared no expense\” regarding the superweapon that destroyed the planet Alderaan. But what would the actual budget for the space station be, vis-à-vis the Imperial credit-to-U.S. dollar conversion?

Read more:
Star Wars Movies Are Secretly Forbidden From Showing These Five Objects

The Ability To Gather All Of Earth\’s Money Is Insignificant Next To The Budget Of The Death Star

According to a 2012 study featured in the Lehigh University students\’ economics blog
Centives
, the construction budget of the original Death Star is a whopping $852,000,000,000,000,000. To readers having trouble verbalizing this astronomical number, that is the equivalent of $852 quadrillion in Imperial credits from building it alone, dwarfing the 2012 global GDP by 13,000 times. When you apply this number to the
U.S. Inflation Calculator
From 2012 to 2025, with an accumulated inflation rate totaling 39%, the current construction budget would approximately amount to $1,184,080,873,193,550,300—or about $1.2 quadrillion. According to the report, these costs primarily stem from steel production, projected over a period of roughly 833,315 years. When scaled up to match the size of the Death Star, such a project would require around 1.08 x 1,000,000,000,000,000 tons of steel. Additionally, the analysis suggests that our planet possesses sufficient iron resources to build as many as two million Death Stars.

The aforementioned statistics pertain solely to the construction, but what about energizing the Death Star? As per a 2016 infographic created by British energy provider
Ovo Energy
created (via
CNET
), the
daily
The operational expenses would amount to approximately $7,700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or $7.7 octillion. Given this astronomical figure, one can infer that adjusting for current inflation rates would be more cumbersome than enduring a full day spent with JarJar Binks.

Thanks to Galen Erso, Rogue One, and Luke Skywalker, the original Death Star is now largely part of galactic history.

For many years, one of the most prominent inconsistencies in \”Star Wars: A New Hope\” involved the Death Star having a significant weakness.
simplifying things for Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) during the final showdown with the space station in the movie\’s concluding battle
The notion that the Empire would deliberately incorporate a significant flaw into their ultimate weapon seems incredibly foolish, and this has long been a target of mockery from both critics and enthusiasts for around four decades. However, with the launch of \”Rogue One\” in 2016, this view was transformed. That movie disclosed that Galen Erso (played by Mads Mikkelsen), an Imperial research scientist who designed the Death Star, felt profound remorse akin to Robert Oppenheimer’s about building such a destructive device—remorse so intense that he covertly included a critical weakness within it. This vulnerability becomes part of the Death Star schematics retrieved during the team\’s perilous assignment on Scarif. Imagine spending vast sums on developing and operating the Death Star just for it to succumb due to sabotage orchestrated by its own master creator as a form of rebellion against the empire.
Viewers can learn additional details regarding Galen Erso\’s history in the publication titled, \”Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel.\”

In \”Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,\” the Empire ultimately tried to build a second Death Star, which was subsequently demolished by the Rebel Alliance under the command of Lando Calrissian (played by Billy Dee Williams). Approximately thirty years afterward, the First Order erected Starkiller Base in \”Star Wars: The Force Awakens.\” This base met its end at the hands of a squadron of Resistance X-Wings guided by Poe Dameron (portrayed by Oscar Isaac). Despite the undeniable significance of the Death Star as an emblem within the series\’ lore, one can only hope that Lucasfilm won’t reintroduce such a colossal space station or weapon anytime soon. One instance sufficed; two felt excessive, yet a third appearance might suggest a dearth of creativity. Nevertheless, considering “Star Wars” often delves into cycles of repetition, perhaps anything could happen down the line.

The inception of the initial Death Star will be highlighted in \”Andor\” season 2.
, set to debut its initial three episodes on Disney+ on April 22, 2025.

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Read the
original article on SlashFilm
.