Coruscant Eastern Spaceport

"Several pallets of Moogan tea from the Ardees Beverage Company were confiscated at the Eastport Docks on Coruscant thanks to a tip from the Sundari Police Authority on Mandalore, an atypical heads-up from a world known for its independence."

―Exantor Divo, Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious^[3]

The Coruscant Eastern Spaceport, also known as Eastport or the Coruscant Spaceport, was one of the two major spaceports on the planet Coruscant and was located in the world's Port District. Most newcomers to Coruscant passed through the immense industrialized area, which was intimidating to the average visitor but equipped to handle a diverse range of physiologies.

The spaceport's terminals were designed to be practical but with elegant flowing curves. Display boards with information for travelers were featured prominently, and movement throughout the spaceport was controlled by a strict code of conduct. The Coruscant Eastern Spaceport had a transit car terminal with many floors of narrow walkways. The port saw its busiest period during the Separatist Crisis, which began in 24 BBY, when migrant traffic increased 6,000 percent and inter-species tensions in the port flared, leading to a massive brawl between Houk and Weequay immigrants.

In 7956 C.R.C., a shipment of tainted Moogan tea was seized by the Coruscant Security Force from the Eastport Docks, one of the many docking facilities in Eastport. In 5 BBY, former Preox-Morlana employee Syril Karn returned to Coruscant through the Coruscant Eastern Spaceport from the planet Morlana One. That same year, rebel agent Kleya Marki arrived at the spaceport via transit car while on her way to meet fellow rebel Vel Sartha.

Description

Gateway to the galaxy

"Telgordo Travel service to Hosnian Prime, Plexis, and Eufornis Major will now be departing from platforms 7-12 and 7-13."

―PA System^[4]

Coruscant Eastern Spaceport's terminal design was practical and elegant.

The Coruscant Eastern Spaceport,^[5] sometimes shortened to just Eastport^[1] or the Coruscant Spaceport,^[6] was a large spaceport district^[1] that was one of the two major ports of Galactic City, the ecumenopolis covering the planet Coruscant. The other major port, Westport, acted as the planet's main departure point, while most newcomers passed through Eastport,^[2] although it was also used as part of some travelers' daily commute or as the start point for long journeys across the galaxy.^[5]

Both were located in the Port District and served as more than just spaceports, consisting of immense industrialized areas with many port facilities of all kinds.^[2] The Eastport Docks were one such facility,^[3] as were platforms 7-12 and 7-13.^[4] The Coruscant Eastern Spaceport was an enormous and intimidating space for the average visitor but was prepared to handle a diverse range of physiologies amongst those that passed through, with port authorities being as tolerant of cultural and social differences as was possible.^[2] It accommodated the tens of thousands of passengers that passed through on a daily basis with many gates, wide, winding hallways, and large, airy atria. To keep the masses appraised of their journey's status or designated platform, the port featured arrivals and departures signs prominently.^[5] Multiple AA-9 Freighter-Liners departed from the port to new destinations on an almost daily basis.^[1]

Terminals and transit cars

The Coruscant Eastern Spaceport's terminals were designed to combine practical functionality with elegant sweeping lines, with a strict code of conduct about where passengers should be walking and their direction of travel. This kept the crowds moving in an efficient manner.^[5] One such terminal complex consisted of a long, curved walkway beside the landing platforms with a series of floor-to-ceiling windows facing out toward the incoming ships. A water feature followed the curve of the walkway on the exterior of the window's base, with an overhanging lip above the windows. Both the exterior and interior of the terminal were white in color, with gray flooring. At least two large information displays were positioned above the walkway, with a narrow winding platform that hung above the walkway connected to one of the displays. Similar displays also lined the walls of a windowless portion of the walkway.^[4]

Coruscant Eastern Spaceport had a transit car terminal.

The Coruscant Eastern Spaceport also included^[7] a transit car^[8] terminal where passengers could exit from the car onto one of many floors of narrow walkways. Directly in front of the arrival area was a circular desk manned by two protocol droids at small terminals. At the desk's center was a holographic transit car map and above the arrival area was a sign in Aurebesh warning travelers to mind the gap. The transit car terminal was connected to a windowless corridor with gray flooring, white walls, and a white ceiling. The corridor had strip lighting down its center, a row of small circular lights on either side, and gray grating that ran along the center of the corridor's walls.^[7]

History

Republic Era

A shipment of tainted Moogan tea was seized by the Coruscant Security Force in Eastport.

Coruscant's eastern and western spaceports both experienced the busiest time in their history during the Separatist Crisis, in which many planets split from the Galactic Republic^[2] beginning in 24 BBY.^[9] This resulted in many citizens of Coruscant leaving to return to their newly independent homeworlds, but also caused an influx of refugees from those same worlds. Over a period of two years, the ports saw an increase of 6,000 percent in migrant traffic. During such a tense period, the mixing of different species in the port inevitably created issues, with it not being unusual for port authorities to have to paralyze a temperamental Wookiee and an aggressive Trandoshan,^[2] species with a history of conflict,^[10] in order to separate them.^[2]

In one instance of inter-species tension, a massive and uncontrolled brawl broke out in Eastport between immigrant members of the Houk and Weequay species, leaving fifteen dead and forty-five with serious injuries.^[2] In 7956 C.R.C. during the preceding Clone Wars, Coruscant Security Force Inspector Tanivos Divo confiscated a shipment containing several pallets of tainted Moogan tea from the Ardees Beverage Company at Eastport Docks after receiving a tip from Sundari Police Authority Captain Patrok Ru-Saxon. The shipment had come from a Moogan smuggling ring linked to a poisoning outbreak on the planet Mandalore and was destined for the Coruscant Underworld before being intercepted, preventing any harm.^[3]

Imperial Era and beyond

In 5 BBY,^[11] Telgordo Travel operated in Eastport, offering transport to locations such as Hosnian Prime, Plexis, Eufornis Major, Balfron, Jonsior, Lanz Carpo, Foerost, Tepasi, Zeltros, Ord Mantell, Cantonica, Mawan, Cato Neimoidia, Obroa-skai, and Sluis Van. After being fired from the Consolidated Holdings of Preox-Morlana Corporation on^[4] the planet^[5] Morlana One, the human Syril Karn returned to Coruscant via the eastern spaceport, carrying two suitcases through one of its terminals. As he passed an astromech droid on the curved walkway, it was announced that Telgordo Travel's service to Hosnian Prime, Plexis, and Eufornis Major was departing from platforms 7-12 and 7-13.^[4]

Kleya Marki passed stormtroopers in Eastport.

Later that year,^[12] the rebel agent Kleya Marki arrived in the Coruscant Eastern Spaceport via a transit car, exiting into the station alongside a crowd of human and alien passengers. Joining a stream of other travelers, she passed several uniformed staff members and then entered the windowless corridor, carrying on as^[7] a guard detail^[8] of four Imperial stormtroopers and an Imperial officer watched both Marki's orderly line and another line heading in the opposite direction. Marki then passed a holographic advert for peezos and a reminder to carry chain codes from the Imperial Security Bureau before exiting the spaceport to meet with fellow rebel Vel Sartha.^[7]

In 3 BBY,^[13] Marki's ally Cassian Andor also passed through the spaceport while traveling from Coruscant to Ghorman^[14] a planet^[15] in the Colonies.^[16] While traversing the spaceport's curved stairs and raised walkways, Andor used an earpiece to listen to details of a new cover identity he was to use on Ghorman.^[14] Divo's grandson, Exantor Divo, included information on the tea shipment seizure in the Coruscant Eastern Spaceport in his book, Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious,^[3] which was published in 34 ABY.^[17]

Behind the scenes

"What we did, then, was increase the height of the building. We were putting it many, many stories up from the ground, because a spaceship had to land right outside. And then I was thinking, ‘It'd be a real shame to paint all these caustic reflections out because they're so beautiful.' So, we actually designed a little moat that ran along the edge of the building, and just used the water from the plate and justified the caustics that way."

―Scott Pritchard discussing the Coruscant spaceport^[18]

In the current Star Wars canon, the Coruscant Eastern Spaceport was first mentioned as Eastport in "AA-9 Coruscant Starfreighter," an article^[1] written by Tim Veekhoven^[19] in the "Starship Fact File" department of the fiftieth issue of the Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon magazine published by De Agostini^[1] around December 16, 2015.^[20] The 2024 reference book Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy then retroactively established that a spaceport^[5] that had first appeared in "Aldhani"—the fourth episode of the first season of the Disney+ television series Star Wars: Andor^[4]—on September 28, 2022,^[21] was the Coruscant Eastern Spaceport.^[5]

Coruscant Eastern Spaceport was filmed at the McLaren Technology Centre.

The spaceport had only previously been identified as the Coruscant spaceport by the StarWars.com Episode Guide for "Aldhani,"^[22] and then as Coruscant Spaceport by the article "Galactic Britain II: Cassian's Travels," which was written by Mark Newbold and Sander de Lange and published in Star Wars Insider 219^[6] on June 13, 2023.^[23] The name Eastport originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where it first appeared in the 1996 novel Before the Storm, which was written by Michael P. Kube-McDowell.^[24] It was depicted for the first time in the 2010 LucasArts video game Kinect Star Wars.^[25] The name Coruscant Spaceport also separately originated in Star Wars Legends, appearing in BioWare's 2011 massively multiplayer online roleplaying game Star Wars: The Old Republic.^[26]

For Andor, the spaceport was filmed at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. Industrial Light & Magic visual effects supervisor Scott Pritchard's team elevated the landing pad several stories above the ground because they figured a starship would have to land outside. Pritchard thought it would be a shame to paint out the beautiful caustic reflections, so the team designed a little moat that ran along the edge of the building. The team used the water from the plate and justified the caustics that way.^[18]