Scarif Scarif was a remote , tropical planet in the Abrion sector of the Outer Rim Territories . Although a small and idyllic world , Scarif played an important part in the Galactic Empire ' s military - industrial complex , becoming a center for top - secret research beyond inspection distance of the Imperial Senate . Among the projects developed here was the Death Star battle station , a construction so important the entire planet was covered by a planetary deflector shield that could only be entered via a Shield Gate . Description . Scarif was a beautiful if relatively small world , measuring just over nine thousand kilometer s in diameter . It had a remote and isolated galactic location in the Abrion sector of the southeast Outer Rim Territories . A deep - blue world speckled with clouds , Scarif was comprised of tropical , volcanic island chains rising from clear , shallow ocean s . Deeper oceans were surrounded by rocky archipelagos . The planet ' s mantle was filled with dense metals that became valuable in starship construction . Scarif ' s beaches were tranquil and idyllic , and some led into jungle canopies filled with wildlife , comprised of areca nut palm tree s which offered natural protection . The Galactic Empire constructed its Imperial security complex across a wheel of islets and landmasses connected by sandy tombolos and artificial transit tubes . The region was surrounded by volcanic island covered in jungles , and the central islet housed the monolithic Citadel Tower . History . Galactic Empire . Although Scarif ' s planetary mantle was filled with dense metals valuable in starship construction , its remote location deep within the Outer Rim Territories meant that supplying shipyard s of the Core Worlds proved too costly . However , the Galactic Empire saw Scarif as a potential place to house their most classified projects away from the inspection distance of the Imperial Senate . To this end , the Empire built a major security complex on the planet ' s northern hemisphere , garrisoned by a special deployment of the Tarkin Initiative , centered around a Citadel Tower . Large swaths of land were excavated in order to build starship s , and a high - altitude Shield Gate station allowed entry past the planetary deflector shield , which itself was protected by several Imperial Star Destroyers . Scarif became the principal construction facility for the Empire ' s vast war machine . In 9 BBY , the Death Star , an armor ed battle station whose superlaser would be capable of destroying entire worlds , was moved from Geonosis to Scarif to continue its construction under the supervision of Director Orson Krennic . The designs for the station were transferred to the massive databanks of the Citadel . Despite the importance of the project , the officers of the garrison , commanded by General Sotorus Ramda , became complacent , mainly because of the confidence placed in Scarif ' s defenses . Battle of Scarif . The Battle of Scarif was a battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire , taking place in the year 0 BBY . The Rebels had received information from Jyn Erso that the Death Star plans were being held in the Citadel Tower , and decided to make an attempt to capture them . Their attempt was successful , and they managed to transmit the plans to Prince ss Leia Organa . However , Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin ordered the Death Star to fire a precise single reactor blast at the planet , not destroying Scarif itself but dissipating its planetary shield and obliterating the Citadel Tower as well as everyone in its vicinity in an unsuccessful effort to halt the transmission , as well as eliminate his longtime political rival , Orson Krennic . Behind the scenes . Scarif is a tropical planet that was created for the 2016 " Star Wars " anthology film " " . The first footage of the planet was shown in the " Rogue One " teaser trailer that was released on April 7 , 2016 . Early in " Rogue One " s production , Scarif was conceived as a sort of " dry dock " for the Death Star , with an immense portion of the planet ' s surface excavated in order to house the battle station . Director Gareth Edwards said the planet ' s nature came about after the crew noticed how George Lucas had been inspired by every theater of World War II except the Pacific front . At the 2017 film festival , Edwards revealed that the planet ' s name , Scarif , came from a misspelling of his name on a coffee cup , telling the audience " " I must have said , ' It ' s Gareth , ' and they wrote ' Scarif . " ' "