  On February 13th 2012, the LARES satellite of the Italian Space Agency (ASI)
was launched into orbit with the qualification flight of the new VEGA launcher
of the European Space Agency (ESA). The payload was released very accurately in
the nominal orbit. The name LARES means LAser RElativity Satellite and
summarises the objective of the mission and some characteristics of the
satellite. It is, in fact, a mission designed to test Einstein's General
Relativity Theory (specifically 'frame dragging' and Lense-Thirring effect).
The satellite is passive and covered with optical retroreflectors that send
back laser pulses to the emitting ground station. This allows accurate
positioning of the satellite, which is important for measuring the very small
deviations from Galilei-Newton's laws. In 2008, ASI selected the prime
industrial contractor for the LARES system with a heavy involvement of the
universities in all phases of the programme, from the design to the
construction and testing of the satellite and separation system. The data
exploitation phase started immediately after the launch under a new contract
between ASI and those universities. Tracking of the satellite is provided by
the International Laser Ranging Service. Due to its particular design, LARES is
the orbiting object with the highest known mean density in the solar system. In
this paper, it is shown that this peculiarity makes it the best proof particle
ever manufactured. Design aspects, mission objectives and preliminary data
analysis will be also presented.
