Short answers, pulled from the story.
Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain opened on the 7th of May 2017 as a rebrand of the existing Space Mountain attraction to celebrate the resort's 25th Anniversary. The underlying roller coaster originally opened on the 1st of June 1995 as Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune.
It is the only Space Mountain at any Disney theme park to feature inversions, a launch, a section of track that exits and re-enters the building, and a synchronized on-board audio track. It is also the largest Space Mountain installation at any Disney theme park.
The attraction uses a 1.3G uphill catapult launch that accelerates trains from zero to 44 mph (71 km/h) in 1.8 seconds. This launch mechanism has been a feature of the ride since it first opened in 1995.
The Star Wars version uses a medley of John Williams's Star Wars score, recorded at Abbey Road Studios. The earlier Mission 2 version was scored by Michael Giacchino, and the original 1995 version was composed by Steven Bramson, who drew inspiration from John Williams's film scores.
The attraction originally opened in 1995 as Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune, themed around Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon. It featured a Victorian steampunk aesthetic, copper-and-bronze moontrain vehicles, and a fictional Columbiad Cannon that launched riders toward a Georges Méliès-inspired smiling moon.
Disneyland Paris was losing millions of French francs in its early years due to low attendance, low hotel occupancy, and lower-than-projected guest spending. The $89.7 million attraction was commissioned to draw more guests to the financially unstable resort. Former Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner credited the ride and its creator, Imagineer Tim Delaney, with saving Disneyland Paris.