Multiple references to events later in the Star Wars timeline appear in Rogue One:
- The Rebels are based in the Yavin IV temple complex, with Mon Mothma in command. General Jan Dodonna is a member of the Rebel Council.
- Mon Mothma mentions that the Empire is preparing for a "major weapons test", the same test that Tarkin uses to destroy Alderaan in A New Hope.
- It can be assumed that the call sign used by the heroes, Rogue One, is the one that will inspire the name of Rogue Squadron.
- It's been confirmed as canon.
- Bail Organa calls for Captain Antilles, saying he has a special mission for him.note He mentions he'll ask the help of a "Jedi friend" who's been in exile since The Purge of the Jedi Order, making it clear why Leia directs R2-D2 to Obi-Wan. When Mon Mothma asks Bail whether his messenger can be trusted, he replies that he trusts "her" with his life, clearly referring to Leia. He also says he's returning to Alderaan to warn his people.
- Jyn and Cassian briefly bump into Doctor Cornelius Evazan
and Ponda Baba (the ugly guys who threatened Luke in the Mos Eisley Cantina) on Jedha. Evazan even starts on the same "you just watch yourself" spiel he gave Luke before Cassian apologizes and drags Jyn away from them. - The male supporting character brazenly charges a horde of Stormtroopers, screaming wildly... and runs into a much larger force, leaving him running and screaming. In A New Hope, it's Han, and here, it's Cassian.
- Krennic asks Darth Vader if he is still in command, and the response is a Force choke.
- Tarkin is aided aboard the Death Star by a bald Imperial General: this is Hurst Romodi, who will appear in the Death Star conference room scene.
- When the Rebel Alliance meets to discuss the Death Star after the battle on Eadu, a senator present remains skeptical that the information given is accurate, noting that it could be a ploy to draw a large portion of the Rebel Alliance to a place where they'd be overrun. That very scenario would play out with the second Death Star.
- Gold and Red Squadrons are present at the battle of Scarif. One of the casualties is Red Five, explaining how Luke is given the callsign. The Battle of Scarif also explains the rag-tag condition of the Rebel forces when they later attacked the Death Star, including why Gold Squadron apparently consists of only four bombers, and Red Squadron appears rather haphazardly reorganized (traditionally Red Two and Red Three would be part of Red Leader's flight, not Red Five's).
- During the battle over Scarif, an X-Wing fighter destroys the shield dome atop a Star Destroyer's bridge before a Y-Wing bombing run disables it, and with some help from a Hammerhead Corvette ends up crashing into both another Star Destroyer and the Shield Gate below., mirroring in many ways the fate of the Executor.
- When the Battle of Scarif begins to reach its conclusion, the Tantive IV is one of the Rebel ships that escapes, directly leading to the opening of A New Hope. Just before he gives the plans to Princess Leia, Captain Antilles orders the airlock to be sealed. The empire would later use that airlock to board the Tantive IV during the first scene of the later movie.
- Krennic could be seen as a forerunner of General Hux, who views his own planet-killer with even more fervour. Hux, however, gets to witness the firepower of his weapon uninhibited.
- In the new canon, it appears that a skilled enough pilot can calculate and activate or deactivate the hyperdrive within the gravity well of a planet, as shown when Cassian jumps the U-Wing to hyperspace from within Jedha's atmosphere in order to escape the destruction from the Death Star's laser, with K-2SO implying that being able to do so requires a very precise calculation. Han Solo does the inverse in The Force Awakens, being able to deactivate the Millenium Falcon's hyperdrive precisely when the Falcon is past the planetary shield but before it reaches the ground.
- Tarkin tells the Death Star crew "You may fire when ready," just as he did with Alderaan and (almost) Yavin.
- Krennic assures Tarkin that when the Death Star is complete, the Senate will no longer be of any concern.
- While not mentioned in the film, Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide notes that one of the Blue Squadron pilots was previously stationed at an abandoned Rebel outpost on Crait.
- While searching through the Scarif archives for the Death Star plans, Jyn mentions Hyperspace Tracking in the list of technologies the Empire is researching.
- The rumbling footfalls and whirring mechanisms that are noticed by Chirrut (and audiences) as the first indication of the Imperial walkers approaching, are the sounds of the walkers at the Battle of Hoth.
