Kessel / Legends Kessel , originally known as Xo ' s Eye while under Xim ' s empire , was a planet located in the Kessel sector , in the Outer Rim Territories , near Hutt Space and the dangerous celestial bodies of the Maw . It was a prison world , and was home to the galaxy ' s largest glitterstim spice mining operation . Under Imperial rule , slave labor was in extensive use . The planet was close to Little Kessel and had a single moon , which was destroyed by Tol Sivron using the Death Star prototype . Description . The misshapen , asteroid - shaped planet known as Kessel had a barren , rocky landscape . The atmosphere was very thin , with most of the air being provided by factories on the surface . Ancient tombs and ruins , possibly of Sith origin , dotted the landscape , haunted by skeletal avians . The prison had been established in these inhospitable settings . There was a single large settlement on the planet , Kessendra . History . During the time of Xim ' s empire , it was known as Xo ' s Eye . Kessel was the only source of glitterstim spice , a valuable drug used both therapeutically and recreationally . During the Galactic Republic ' s time , the prison was administered by the Colicoids . Sometime during the Galactic Civil War , Hawk Carrow and Nagraoao were prisoners in the Spice Mines of Kessel . Roark Garnet took his ship , the " Dorion Discus " to the Kessel system to rescue his friends , but was stopped by a Star Destroyer for inspection . Garnet bribed the Navy officer to let him go . Later , the prison was controlled by Imperial Warden Commander Dewt Kluskine . Several prisoners rose to positions of power under him as trustees . The most powerful of these was Moruth Doole , who gained effective control of the spice trade by manipulating the Warden ' s accounts . Doole engineered the assassination of Kluskine by a Wookiee prisoner named Gyylghrard , and eventually seized control of the mines himself . The Galactic Republic administered programs to educate inmates on how to re - enter society upon release . Prior to the Clone Wars , Kassar Forge was one such teacher in this program . Even after the inmates took control of the planet , he voluntarily remained on the moon , eventually marrying Myda , one of the former inmates , and having multiple sons and daughters , including future Rogue Squadron pilots Lujayne and Inyri . Imperial period . Shortly after the execution of Order 66 , a small Jedi conclave was called in one of the abandoned mines of Kessel by Shadday Potkin in a futile attempt to lure Darth Vader into a deathtrap . The plan ultimately failed and all the Jedi who attended were killed . Galactic Civil War . Prior to the Battle of Yavin , the Rebel Alliance staged a bold raid there to rescue POWs from the Spice Mines . Tyber Zann was another prisoner here , but he escaped during a prison revolt he caused , thanks to his lieutenant Urai Fen . In 0 BBY , the Imperials kept several massive communication satellites in orbit to maintain control over the prisons , to permit passage through the system , and to coordinate ship landings . One of these satellites was guarded with a " Victory " - class Star Destroyer , two " Acclamator " - class assault ships , two " Tartan " - class patrol cruisers , and multiple squadrons of TIE fighters , TIE interceptors , TIE / sa bombers , and a single squadron of elite TIE defenders . The Zann Consortium had an opportunity to corrupt this spice world by destroying a communications satellite with IG - 88 , two " Crusader " - class corvettes , two " Vengeance " - class frigates , and four full squadrons of " StarViper " - class starfighters . Admiral Ackbar almost became a new inmate at the prisons on Kessel after he was captured by Boba Fett and turned over to the Imperials . Over Kessel , however , the Star Destroyer that Ackbar was being held upon was intercepted by the elite Renegade Squadron , commanded by Han Solo and Col Serra . The squadron fought their way through TIE fighters and numerous stormtroopers aboard the Star Destroyer to rescue Ackbar , which they did successfully . During the Galactic Civil War , Wedge Antilles became a prisoner and slave at one of the Empire ' s Spice mines , after being captured near the Imperial Enclave on Kile II . He was scheduled for termination , and was being transported by train to a death camp , but the timely intervention of Luke Skywalker and Rogue Squadron allowed him to make a last - minute escape . The Rogues then joined with Rebel General Crix Madine and a task force of commandos , who used Antilles ' s knowledge of the prison camps to quickly rescue a large percentage of the slaves working for the Imperials . After the Empire lost the Battle of Endor , the Imperials on Kessel decided to abandon the planetoid . The atmosphere factories were shut off , although the prisoners at Detention Center A , Detention Center B , and Detention Center C were forced to keep working in the thinning air . Shortly after a liberation of the planet Kashyyyk , Han Solo , Chewbacca , Lando Calrissian and other Wookiee soldiers arrived on the planet and successfully re - powered three atmosphere factories , and in the process , freed many of the slaves . Kessendra was administered by Grand Moff Bertroff Hissa , and was known for its grandiose colosseum . After the Battle of Endor , Hissa set up the mutant Trioculus as the new Emperor , in opposition to Ysanne Isard on Coruscant . He was defeated by the unintentionally combined efforts of Isard and SPIN . Some time after the death of Trioculus , the staff of the Imperial Correctional Facility led by the prison ' s administrator , Moruth Doole revolted against the Imperial garrison , overthrowing the guards and successfully taking control of the planet , installing Arb Skynxnex as his number two . After the revolt , Doole discovered a dead rancor in the prison which obviously hadn ' t been fed . He regretted the death of the rancor as he planned to feed the Imperials to it . Instead , he sent them to the mines but tortured the former head of the prison and froze him in carbonite , displaying it in his office . The commissioner and his guards kept more than half of the planet under their control until 11 ABY . During this period , the planet was defended by squadrons of TIE fighters , X - wings , Y - wings , " Lancer " - class frigates , " Carrack " - class cruisers and various other craft . It was during this period that Han Solo , Chewbacca and Kyp Durron made a successful escape from the planet into the Maw . New Republic era . Under the New Republic , the planet had no slaves . A legitimate spice mining business was run by Nien Nunb , who was installed as administrator around 13 ABY by Lando Calrissian , who had purchased the mines . Mara Jade was also involved with running Calrissian ' s business , at least for a time . Calrissian made an initial investment of new equipment and extensively revamping the facilities that cost an emperor ' s ransom . Nunb also employed species that , like his own Sullustan race , preferred to be underground , such as craniopod s , blind , sentient insectoids who thrived in the underground tunnels and had developed a community in abandoned glitterstim tunnels . The initial investment and Numb ' s deft administration resulted in happy workers , who proudly made the spice mines a profitable and productive industrial facility . During the Yuuzhan Vong War , the planet was conquered by the invaders . Kessel was also rumored to be a chunk of rock from the Maw Installation before the Maw was created . Unfortunately , no proof has been given to this connection . On recent expeditions of uncharted tunnels ( due to quakes tearing the rock apart ) , Han and Leia had discovered a vast cavern the size of a city filled with fungi stalks , one to two meter long centipedes , crimson - colored spiders that ate fungi and small avian " things " much like miniature Hawk - bats . This cavern also had gigantic blocks of manufactured equipment , which Leia later discovered the Bogey s would transfer data from these blocks to an unknown destination . It was believed by Han and Leia that the machinery inside of Kessel was created by the Celestial s . Behind the scenes . The first appearance of Kessel in the draft scripts for " A New Hope " was as " Kissel " in George Lucas ' s notes accompanying the " Journal of the Whills , Part I " as a potential name for a planet . The " Kessil system " contained Utapau in the rough draft , which also mentioned a character named Grande Mouff Tarkin who led the Kesselian Dragoon s . Kessel was mentioned in . Protocol droid C - 3PO recalled that himself and his droid counterpart , astromech droid , R2 - D2 , " We ' ll be sent to space mines of Kessel " . In the revised fourth draft of " A New Hope " , Han Solo first made a reference to the " Kessel Run " . Kessel , as depicted in " The Second Kessel Run " , was a lush , idyllic world containing the Giant Fungi Forest . According to " The Essential Atlas " , and confirmed by Jason Fry on the Jedi Council Forums , this depiction has been retconned into being Little Kessel , a world not far off the Kessel Run . In " " and " " Kessel is portrayed as a spherical planet , whereas other official sources portray it as a potato - shaped planet . In " The New Essential Chronology " , Kessel is mistakenly portrayed as a greenish - blue , lush - looking spherical planet . In - universe , Kessel is often likened to Hell ( for example , the use of " Kesseled " as equivalent to " damned " ) . In the " Fate of the Jedi " novel " Outcast " , the Garrison Moon is mentioned as actually being present and used as a base of operations , despite being destroyed by the Death Star Prototype years earlier .