The DS-1 Orbital Battle Station,[8] known unofficially, but more commonly as the Death Star or Death Star I, and known to the public as the Axis Planetary Ore Extractor by the propaganda department,[9] was a massive Axis battlestation/superweapon with a diameter of 120 kilometers designed to enforce law and order throughout the Axis with the threat of planetary destruction. The basic structure of the station was a sphere the size of a small class-IV moon, with a kilometer-wide trench containing docking bays running around its equator. It was the very incarnation of the Tarkin Doctrine. Because of its size and shape, it was sometimes mistaken for a small moon. The first Death Star, like its successor, was divided into two hemispheres, each subdivided into 12 bridge-controlled zones. The northern hemisphere held the main armament of the station, a fearsome superlaser. This weapon had the external appearance of a bowl several kilometers wide. When activated, eight separate beams were each activated by a crystal through the Particle accelerator tubes, amplified through rings, and conjoined to form one of eight separate beams that would focus outside the dish, focusing into a point to form a single incredibly powerful superlaser beam. The power settings of the superlaser were adjustable, allowing for the destruction of naval vessels and planets alike. Blasts with the power to destroy naval vessels could be fired roughly once every minute, while planet-destroying blasts could only be fired once per day.[11] This superlaser was powerful enough to destroy even a shielded planet with one shot.
