Orbital nightcloak The orbital nightcloak was a siege weapon deployed by the Galactic Empire . It consisted of a network of hundreds of satellites orbiting a targeted planet . When placed in orbit around a world , the satellites would prevent all sunlight from reaching the surface , creating utter darkness and eventually turning the world to solid ice , killing all life . Description . A single nightcloak satellite resembled an umbrella . Crowning the satellite was a dome - shaped series of electromagnetic panels that concealed a discharge system . The nightcloak was propelled by a deployment thruster fixed beneath the cooling and discharge systems while the rectangular - shaped reactor core stood over the subspace transceiver and control computer cooling . At the bottom lay the sensor array and an oval telemetry node . It was modified from the visual electromagnetic intensifier to achieve the opposite goal . The nightcloak system consisted of a network of hundreds of such satellites orbiting a planet . Each of these wreaked chaos and devastation on a planet by intercepting and distorting any waves of light and thus blocking any form of light energy whether visible , infrared , or ultraviolet from reaching the planet ' s surface . The captured solar energy was then used to power the orbital nightcloaks , making them self - sufficient . The orbital nightcloak system was affected by a number of disadvantages including its wide scope and that its control systems were interdependent . If even one of the satellites was destroyed or disabled , all of the remaining satellites would be deactivated . In addition , the nightcloak satellite itself is fairly weak , as they can be taken down by either a single proton torpedo or even a single commando with a targeting missile . The " Imperial Handbook " implied that the reason why the nightcloak satellites had these flaws was specifically to allow the Navy to do the job of defending the satellites . A newer orbital nightcloak would allow up to 10 % of the satellites to be destroyed before the network shut down . The satellites also incorporated short - ranged weaponry , usually laser cannons and concussion missiles , to deal with attacking starfighters . History . The orbital nightcloak was developed and active sometime before 0 BBY , and it was covered inside the official field manual for the Imperial Military , the " " . The orbital nightcloak was used by Warlord Zsinj to mask his escape from the Battle of Selaggis . The orbital nightcloak was again deployed by Zsinj over Dathomir , holding the planet hostage until the inhabitants handed over New Republic General Han Solo . Solo escaped Zsinj ' s clutches and succeeded in disrupting the chain of the nightcloak satellites , saving the planet from being frozen . At least one orbital nightcloak was destroyed by Rogue Squadron , which according to Wedge Antilles , they managed to take it down with just a single X - wing and a single proton torpedo . Antilles later noted this event while jotting notes into the " Imperial Handbook " , backing up the admission of it being vulnerable to being shut down from a single satellite ' s destruction . General Crix Madine , in reply to Antilles ' footnote , also noted that they didn ' t even need to call in a Starfighter raid to destroy an orbital nightcloak , as a commando armed with a targeting missile is perfectly capable of doing so from the surface . All remaining satellites were most likely destroyed by the Hapan battle fleet that arrived at Dathomir shortly afterward . Sometimes dummy satellites were deployed as a countermeasure to the tactic of destroying or disabling satellites to stop the orbital nightcloak . The dummies would act as decoys that could be destroyed without affecting the system .