Alderaan (Reconstruction Project)

Alderaan is a formerly inhabited planet that was destroyed by the Galactic Empire with the Death Star super weapon around 0 BBY. Circa 185 ABY, the planet was reconstructed and is going through the process of being recreated.

Inhabitants
There are a number of repatriated Alderaanian descendants living in orbital habitats all over the Alderaan system, several of which are tethered with space elevators to the restored world.

In addition to the Alderaanian Humans, a number of Ithorians and Yuuzhan Vong also live in the system and have been instrumental in helping to rebuild the planet out of its former remains.

History
Alderaan is the original homeworld of the Kiliks, an insectoid species that now lives somewhere in the Unknown Regions. They abandoned the planet some time ago.

Humans discovered the planet and colonized it utilizing sleeper ships before the Hyperdrive was discovered, and it was one of the earliest members of the Old Republic.

The planet was destroyed by the order of Grand Moff Tarkin in 0 BBY in order to prove the effectiveness of the Death Star. The numerous expatriates that were off-world tried to build a new community several times, but they always returned to Alderaan to bury their dead.

Over the last century, the Core Republic has been utilizing tractor beam technology in order to recreate Alderaan as much as possible, with the aim of someday restoring its biosphere to its former living conditions.

The Alderaan Restoration Project
Alderaan's restoration has been worked on using three phases: During the first stage of the operation, a new core for the planet was created by utilizing the remains of both death stars, as well as a small moon that was thrown clear of a neighboring planet that was tractored back into position. The new core was then dropped into the "Graveyard" asteroid field and was aided in aggregation by the same tractoring station that created the core.
 * 1) New Core
 * 2) Aggregation and Surfacing
 * 3) Terraforming

In the second stage of the project, the aggregation of the loose material in Alderaan's former orbit was moved into collection range and a planet roughly 99% of Alderaan's former mass and gravity was created. Habitats were created in system to aid work on surfacing the molten world into something useable in the near future. A number of domed stations now orbit the planet, building up resources for future colonization.

The final step is still a long way off, as it may take centuries for the planet to cool enough to begin the reintroduction of breathable gases or any planet and animal life.