My role as Head of Design at Fuel was to lead the design development  for the Orrery.
The animated example above was completed prior to the shoot so that Ridley could get an idea of how the star map might appear and behave so the sets and actors could be lit appropriately.  

The various stages were research, concept frames and then this animated example.
3D artists Roy Malhi and Aevar Bjarnason used Maya to create the known Universe and the navigational rings and galaxy data spheres.  Obviously the colour grade changed in the final film to a bluish hue but the basic design stayed true.

After look dev was approved it then went into full production in 3D at Fuelvfx using Maya and Houdini led by vfx supervisor Paul Butterworth.