Operation Skyhook Operation Skyhook was the codename given to the Rebel Alliance ' s operation to obtain the Death Star plans and ultimately destroy the Imperial battlestation , the Death Star . Operation Skyhook would become one of the most devastating series of battles of the war . The entire population of the Alliance - allied planet Alderaan would be wiped out by the superlaser of the Death Star . During the Battle of Yavin , the Death Star was destroyed by a " lucky shot " by Luke Skywalker , wiping out hundreds of thousands of Imperial personnel , including Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin . History . Learning about the superweapon . In 2 BBY , the Rebel leaders Mon Mothma , Bail Organa and Garm Bel Iblis were captured by Darth Vader and conducted to the battlestation . They became aware of the Death Star ' s existence but were not fully aware of its true nature . Operation Skyhook was launched shortly after their escape and the death of Galen Marek . Rumors about the existence of a massive Imperial construction began with the rescue of the " Genue " ; Rebel escapees from the Stars ' End secret prison facility informed the Alliance about Wookiee slaves working for a secret project . Meanwhile , R2 - D2 ' s investigations of the Imperial computer networks led him to uncover evidence of an " Imperial superweapon " , rumors confirmed through further inquiries among the galaxy ' s underworld . The Alliance rescued Wookiee slaves on their transfer on " Toral " . Examining the ship ' s documents , the Alliance learned of the existence of a convoy of weapons near Orron III . An assault against that convoy resulted in the obtaining of Imperial communications satellite s , which later transmitted the superweapon ' s schematics to the Rebel outpost AX - 235 ; the Rebel spies who manned it learned about the definite existence of the Death Star . About the same time , Princess Leia Organa went on a mercy mission to deliver medical supplies and equipment to the Ralltiiri High Council . However , her real objective was supporting the Ralltiiri resistance movement with heavy weaponry and military - grade equipment to fight the Imperial occupation troops . She was permitted to land by Commodore Lord Tion , head of the Imperial task force . There , Leia rescued a wounded Rebel soldier , Basso , who later revealed the existence of the first Death Star . On Alderaan , Bail Organa told his foster daughter that Basso ' s story of a top secret Imperial weapons project supervised by Grand Moff Tarkin was confirmed to be truthful . Later , Lord Tion visited Alderaan and met the Organas . Leia tricked him into revealing that the Death Star was a moon - sized battlestation equipped with a superlaser capable of destroying entire planets . Tion gossiped that an Imperial convoy was transporting the Death Star plans from Grand Moff Tarkin ' s headquarters to the Imperial vaults . After Leia accidentally revealed her knowledge about the Death Star battlestation , Tion realized that the Organas had connections to the Rebel Alliance , but he died before he was able to inform the Imperial authorities . Acting on the advice of Princess Leia — identified to operatives merely as an anonymous " friend in the Senate " — Mon Mothma ordered a further investigation into the nature of this weapon . Using data already collected , the Rebels discovered that cargo shipments to a research station doing work on the Death Star were being sent from the Vergesso Asteroids . Raymus Antilles personally recruited Han Solo , despite Solo ' s reluctance , to plant a tracking device and EMP in one of the cargo containers bound for the research station . The tracking device revealed the station ' s location over Corulag , and then triggered the EMP and paralyzed Imperial security forces while Antilles led a team to attack the station , recovering valuable data . From this data haul , the team was able to confirm the name of the project — Death Star — and gain an idea of its destructive capabilities , but they were without technical schematics detailed enough to reveal a weakness . Mon Mothma then instructed Leia Organa to begin intensified operations to gather relevant intelligence , and assigned Captain Antilles to her service aboard " Tantive IV " . The operation . When the Death Star whereabouts became more well known , the Rebels proceeded with the Mission to Danuta , during which Rebel operative Kyle Katarn ( who had recently defected from the Empire ) was sent to retrieve the plans from a secret Imperial base in the city of Trid . Due to their importance , these plans were transported physically to Princess Leia aboard the diplomatic vessel " Tantive IV " by the shuttle " Maria " . In addition to the fragments gathered from AX - 234 and Danuta , it seems another piece of the plans were delivered from a rebel base on Polis Massa . These plans were stolen during a prisonbreak on the Death Star . The 501st Legion of stormtroopers attempted to recover this information on Polis Massa , but it was smuggled out . This led to the 501st Legion being saved from the destruction of the Death Star . Further information was retrieved on Darkknell by Senator Garm Bel Iblis , then presumed dead , shortly after the death of his family at the hands of Imperial agents . The last part of the plans were retrieved by Rebels operating out of Toprawa , but Imperial reinforcements led by Darth Vader blockaded the system . The information was to be delivered to the Star Cruiser " Liberty " , but the sudden appearance of the Star Destroyer " Immortal " forced the transfer to stop . Under the guise of a mercy mission , Princess Leia Organa arrived in the system aboard the " Tantive IV " , hoping her diplomatic immunity as a member of the Imperial Senate would protect her . However , Vader ' s flagship , the " Devastator " , detected the transfer , and Princess Leia was forced to flee the system with Vader in pursuit . " Tantive IV " fled to Tatooine in an attempt to fulfill its secondary objective : Former Jedi General Obi - Wan Kenobi had survived the Great Jedi Purge and was now hiding on Tatooine . Princess Leia had been instructed by her father to seek him out if she had no other option . Leia would now attempt to bring Kenobi to Alderaan , along with the stolen plans . Unfortunately , before the ship ever reached Tatooine , it was intercepted by the Imperial Star Destroyer " Devastator " , the flagship of Darth Vader . The " Tantive IV " was quickly disabled and captured , and though a small struggle was made by Rebels on board , the stormtroopers of the 501st Legion quickly eliminated the Rebel troops and captured Princess Leia . However , the boarding party was unable to find the plans , which had been secretly uploaded to the astromech droid R2 - D2 , who then made his getaway in an escape pod . While the Alliance was looking for the location of the Death Star , Jan Dodonna proposed that if the base of Kalla VII was destroyed , any passing ships heading for the Death Star would be stranded there . According to this , Red Squadron assisted to its destruction while " Priam " arrived and as predicted , it was stranded . After the capture of " Priam " , its computer revealed to the Alliance that the location of the Death Star was Despayre . The rebel carrier " Fortressa " then made an ill - fated solo attack on the Death Star at Despayre and was completely destroyed along with her starfighter compliment . Afterward , when Rebel scouts " Ethar " went to investigate , the Death Star had already left the system and they were captured by lingering Imperial forces . With the Death Star complete and on the move , Imperial forces started to attack the Rebels in several sectors , forcing the Alliance to go to Condition Yellow and increase protection of storage areas . Conclusion . Following the Destruction of Alderaan , a tracking bug was placed on the " Millennium Falcon " , which led the Imperials to the moon Yavin 4 . To confirm Rebel presence on the moon , Palpatine ordered an expeditionary force to go to the moon and gain a stronghold on the planet . Following a rough skirmish in the vicinity of the Massassi Arena , Rebels were confirmed to have been on the planet . With the " Death Star " en route to Yavin 4 , Jan Dodonna devised a complicated plan to destroy the " Death Star " with only one pair of proton torpedoes . Red Squadron and Gold Squadron would fly into the Death Star ' s trench and fire into a secondary thermal exhaust port leading from the main exhaust port of the battlestation , which would cause it to explode from within . The Battle of Yavin started soon after . The Alliance would emerge victorious as Luke Skywalker , Red Five , fired successfully into the Death Star through use of the Force . Aftermath . The threat of the Death Star was vanquished thereafter . But the Empire would later respond with other special projects , including the dark trooper production line , the development of TIE Phantoms and the " Tarkin " battlestation . Their efforts would conclude with the TIE Experimental Project and finally the construction of the " Death Star II " . Behind the scenes . The briefing in " " states that the Mission to Danuta belongs to the " second phase " of Operation Skyhook . It tells us nothing about which was the first phase , although it would supposedly refer to the missions of " " and what missions comprised the phases of the whole operation .