Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain is the coaster that broke every Space Mountain rule. Tucked inside Discoveryland at Disneyland Park, Disneyland Paris, it is the only Space Mountain on the planet with inversions, the only one with a catapult launch, and — thanks to five 24-passenger trains cycling through its cannon-shaped launch tube — one of the highest-capacity roller coasters ever built.
The ride began life in 1995 as Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune, a Jules Verne-inspired steampunk spectacle, and has worn its Star Wars overlay since 2017. Whatever the theme, the hardware underneath remains one of Vekoma’s most ambitious creations.
Key Stats
| Park | Disneyland Park, Disneyland Paris (Marne-la-Vallée, France) |
| Type | Launched, enclosed steel coaster |
| Height | 105 ft (32 m) |
| Top speed | 44 mph (71 km/h) |
| Length | 2,510 ft (765 m) |
| Inversions | 3 (sidewinder, corkscrew, cutback) |
| Duration | About 2 minutes 5 seconds |
| Launch | Electric winch catapult, 0–44 mph in about 1.8 seconds |
| Trains | 5 trains, 6 cars each, 24 riders per train |
| Hourly capacity | ~1,980 riders |
| Manufacturer | Vekoma |
| Opened | June 1, 1995 (as Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune) |
From Jules Verne to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
When Disneyland Paris needed a headline attraction to turn around its rocky early years, Imagineering went big. Opened on June 1, 1995 at a reported cost of around $90 million, Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune reimagined the classic Space Mountain concept through the lens of Jules Verne’s 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon. Riders were loaded into a giant Columbiad cannon bolted to the side of the copper-and-verdigris mountain and ‘fired’ toward the moon — a launch visible to the entire park.
In 2005 the ride was re-launched as Space Mountain: Mission 2, swapping the Victorian moon voyage for a deep-space journey with a score by Michael Giacchino. Then, for the resort’s 25th anniversary in 2017, the attraction received its current identity: Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, complete with new-generation Vekoma trains and a medley of John Williams’ Star Wars themes recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Today’s show cycle, sometimes billed as Rebel Mission, drops riders into a rebel reconnaissance run that erupts into a battle with an Imperial Star Destroyer and TIE fighters.
The Ride Experience
The sequence that made this coaster famous still opens the show: the climb up the launch tube inside the cannon barrel, a tense pause, then an electric winch catapult that slings the train from 0 to 44 mph in roughly 1.8 seconds. From there the ride is pure darkness and disorientation — 2,510 feet of Vekoma track threaded through projections of star fields, laser blasts and capital ships.
Three inversions come at you unseen: a sidewinder, a corkscrew and a rare cutback, all navigated in the dark. It remains the only Space Mountain-family coaster anywhere with inversions, which is why Paris enforces a taller 120 cm (47.2 in) height requirement than its American and Asian cousins. Onboard speakers sync the Star Wars score to every drop and roll — a trick this ride helped pioneer with its original onboard-audio system in 1995.
Records, Capacity and Fun Facts
Hyperspace Mountain’s quiet superpower is throughput. With five trains dispatching from a dual-block station, the ride moves roughly 1,980 guests per hour — enough to rank #11 on our list of the highest-capacity roller coasters in the world. For a fully enclosed, launched coaster with inversions, that people-eating ability is remarkable even three decades after opening.
It was also a genuine first: when it debuted in 1995 it was among the first full-circuit launched coasters of the modern era, beating the magnetic-launch boom of the late ’90s with a decidedly steampunk solution — an electric winch and a catch car, exactly the sort of contraption Jules Verne might have sketched.
FAQ
How fast is Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain?
The catapult launch accelerates the train to a top speed of 44 mph (71 km/h) in about 1.8 seconds. The entire ride through the dark lasts a little over two minutes.
Does Hyperspace Mountain go upside down?
Yes — three times. The layout includes a sidewinder, a corkscrew and a cutback, making it the only Space Mountain-style coaster in any Disney park with inversions. The minimum height to ride is 120 cm (47.2 in).
Is it still called Space Mountain?
The attraction opened in 1995 as Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune, became Space Mountain: Mission 2 in 2005, and has operated as Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain since 2017. The exterior still shows off the original Verne-style mountain and cannon.
Photo: MinoKB via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)