Rogue One: Cost of Building Death Star Revealed

Remember when the Internet did its thing and petitioned the U.S. to build an actual Death Star? The national campaign got enough traction to garner a response from the federal government that denied the peoples’ request citing cost amongst other factors. And, now, a company has figured out how much the project would have cost.

Twizzle calculated how much it would cost to build the Death Star, and there’s a lot of zeroes involved. The site is reporting the space station would require more than $22,452,000,000,000,000,000. For those of you who aren’t mathematical inclined, that is 22.45 quintillion dollars.

The site also created an infographic that breaks down the build into materials, size, and transportation. Since the Death Star was over 140 kilometers, the project would need more than $852 quadrillion, a figure which equals the world’s GDP 13x over.

As for getting the Death Star into space, it would cost $20,000 per kilogram. So, overall, the transportation cost would be about $21 quintillion.

The staggering cost of the Death Star doesn’t even include the cost of armament, communication equipment, and other hi-tech accessories.

When the U.S. estimated cost for the Death Star, Paul Shawcross lowballed the number by a lot. The Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House said the cost would be more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. “We’re working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.”

He also said the government didn’t “support blowing up planets” and that countless taxpayers didn’t need to spend money on a weapon with a “fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship.”

After the national petition was vetoed, a press release from Lucasfilm told fans how the Galactic Empire felt about the country’s response. Written by Admiral Conan Motti, the officer said he felt Obama’s administration greatly overestimated the Death Star’s cost and stressed the weapon had no design flaws.

You can read an excerpt of the rather harsh letter below:

“The overwhelming military superiority of the Galactic Empire has been confirmed once again by the recent announcement by the President of the United States that his nation would not attempt to build a Death Star, despite the bellicose demands of the people of his tiny, aggressive planet. “It is doubtless that such a technological terror in the hands of so primitive a world would be used to upset the peace and sanctity of the citizens of the Galactic Empire,” said Governor Wilhuff Tarkin of the Outer Rim Territories. “Such destructive power can only be wielded to protect and defend by so enlightened a leader as Emperor Palpatine.””

Of course, fans will get a better look into how the Death Star was made when Rogue One: A Star Wars Story releases this year. The film will have Mads Mikkelsen playing Galen Erso, the designer of the Death Star.

From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be in theaters on December 16, 2016, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII on December 15, 2017, the Han Solo Star Wars Story film on May 25, 2018, Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019, and the third Star Wars Story film in 2020.