Skyhook / Legends Skyhooks , or spacehooks , were repulsor craft that floated above the surface of a planet , but remained within its atmosphere , sometimes tethered by carbonite nanofibers . They were commonly symbols of status among the very wealthy , and were usually found on heavily - populated worlds , such as Coruscant . History . Under the Galactic Republic , skyhooks were at one point banned due to the possibility of system failures which would send them crashing into the Coruscant surface . This fear was based on a rare occurrence , a combination of a lightning storm and a freak accident . Such accidents were only known to occur around once every century . Under the Galactic Empire , the skyhook ban was dropped . After its conquest of Coruscant in 7 ABY , the New Republic made no moves to reinstate the ban . However , when the Star Dreadnought " Lusankya " broke free from its berth under the planet ' s surface , she fired on a skyhook , destroying it and causing its remains to crash into the planet ' s surface , damaging several square kilometers of the cityscape . In the aftermath of the massive ship ' s departure , the New Republic Provisional Council ordered the grounding of all skyhooks in the area of the city destroyed by the ship . Though a popular rumor stated that the Council had ordered the skyhooks down in order to spite former members of Rogue Squadron , the Council officially stated that its aim was to provide shelter to those who had had their homes destroyed in the " Lusankya " ' s escape . By the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War , skyhooks were again a common sight in Coruscant . Following the Battle of Coruscant the Yuuzhan Vong tore a number of them out of orbit , causing them to crash to the planet ' s surface , each impact killing millions and devastating hundreds of kilometers of cityscape . Examples . Emperor Palpatine possessed a lavish skyhook in which he housed his greatest treasures , preferring to keep the most priceless ones in the air instead of in his palace . The botanist in charge of his orbiting garden was one of the best in the galaxy . When Prince Xizor attempted to hire him away from the Emperor ' s service the botanist was killed in a mysterious elevator ' accident ' , which no doubt occurred under the direction of Palpatine . Prince Xizor , leader of the Black Sun criminal organization , also had his own skyhook , above Coruscant , a Core Worlds Engineering Skyhook Platform which was known as " Falleen ' s Fist " . It was destroyed by Darth Vader when he commanded the Super Star Destroyer " Executor " to fire at it during the Battle over Coruscant . Xizor was killed when the skyhook was destroyed . There were a number of other skyhooks operating on Coruscant , including one owned by Vader himself . One of these was the SoroSuub skyhook , which was offered to the former members of Rogue Squadron before the Council ordered the grounding of all skyhooks . The economic powerhouse of Muunilinst had a skyhook connecting the orbital city of High Port with the capital Harnaidan , the skyhook tethered the station in place and allowed for cheap travel up and from the planet ' s surface . On Kashyyyk , the Empire was constructing a skyhook to ferry Wookiee slaves to low orbit to be transferred to labor camps across the galaxy , under the supervision of Captain Ozzik Sturn . But Galen Marek disabled the mooring points that kept the skyhook stable , causing it to be destroyed and allowing the remaining Wookiees to go into hiding . However according to Galen , the Empire would rebuild the skyhook . Core Worlds Engineering was known to manufacture skyhooks . Behind the scenes . In science fiction , are hypothetical structures used for transporting material to and from a planet ' s surface into orbit , continuously supporting it rather than using rockets , catapults or hypothetical anti - gravity effects . The term was coined by scientist Giuseppe Colombo . In real - life , it is an object that connects vertically earth with sky . For example atmospheric research balloons , types of helicopters etc . It is not clear which concept preceded which .