Sensor buoys were a variety of buoy utilized in realspace by both the Alliance to Restore the Republic and First Order. They were used to monitor enemy movements as well as to mark paths through space. In 34 ABY, the First Order utilized sensor buoys to mark a path to the space station Station Theta Black, which allowed Resistance members Poe Dameron and Kazuda Xiono to locate the station.
Sensor buoys or space buoys were a type of realspace buoy and beacon used by the Alliance to Restore the Republic to record passing enemy starships and by the First Order to warn them of enemies approaching its hidden fortresses. They could also mark a path through space. The First Order's sensor buoys were primarily cylindrical in shape, with an outer ring protruding from its center and four pairs of antennae extending from the ring. An additional antenna protruded from the top of the buoy, which also had a red light. The buoy itself was gray with a red stripe down its center.
In 3 ABY, Rebel Alliance pilot Wedge Antilles dropped sensor buoys near an asteroid mining station in order to monitor the movements and gauge the strength of enemy forces prior to an attack on the station. By 34 ABY, a series of sensor buoys were positioned outside of the First Order space station Station Theta Black in the Unknown Regions and marked the path to the station. The presence of the buoys was a necessary sacrifice on the First Order's part to ensure access to the station, but it backfired when Resistance pilot Poe Dameron and spy Kazuda Xiono noticed them after Dameron detected a signal in 34 ABY. The two pilots then followed the buoys to the station.
Sensor buoy concept art by Colas Gauthier
Sensor buoys first appeared in "Station Theta Black," the eleventh episode of the Star Wars Resistance animated television series' first season, which premiered on December 9, 2018. They were designed by concept artist Colas Gauthier on June 9, 2017, whose art identified them as "space buoys," a name shared with buoys introduced in the anthology film Solo: A Star Wars Story—released on May 25, 2018—and identified in its novel adaptation—written by Mur Lafferty and released on September 4, 2018. The signal beacon designed by artist Jim Moore for "Rendezvous Point", the eighth episode of Resistances second season that premiered on November 24, 2019, utilized part of the sensor buoys' model. They were first identified as sensor buoys in the Xi-class Light Shuttle Expansion Pack, an expansion to Fantasy Flight Games' miniatures game Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition, which was released on September 25, 2020. Sensor buoys were originally introduced in the Star Wars Legends continuity in "A World to Conquer," an article in the second issue of the Star Wars Adventure Journal, which was published in May 1994.
Sensor buoys also appear in the non-canon DisneyNOW racing game Star Wars Resistance Racer—first released on June 20, 2019—in which they are present in every level of the game—save for the first—as an obstacle.
- Star Wars Resistance Racer