It was launched on the first Vega rocket from the ESA Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana.

[1][7] LARES was inserted in a nearly circular orbit near 1,451 kilometres (902 mi) and an inclination of 69.49 degrees.

[1] The high density helps reduce disturbances from environmental factors such as solar radiation pressure.

[citation needed] The main scientific target of the LARES mission is the measurement of the Lense–Thirring effect with an accuracy of about 1%, according to principal investigator Ignazio Ciufolini and the LARES scientific team,[9] but the reliability of that estimate is contested.

[10] In contrast, a recent analysis of 3.5 years of laser-ranging data reported a claimed accuracy of about 4%.