LARES (acronym for Laser Relativity Satellite) is made of tungsten alloy and houses 92 cube-corner retroreflectors that are used to track the satellite via laser from stations on Earth (satellite laser ranging). The main scientific target of the LARES mission is the measurement of the Lense–Thirring effect, also known as frame-dragging, with an accuracy of about 1%, according to its proponent, Ignazio Ciufolini (Principal Investigator of the mission), and the LARES Scientific Team.

ALMASat-1(ALma MAter SATellite) is a microsatellite developed by the University of Bologna for demonstrative purposes which will be helpful for earth observation missions. The project is funded by the Italian Ministry of Research.

Other payloads were flown on this mission:
- e-st@r
- Goliat
- MaSat-1
- PW-Sat
- ROBUSTA
- UniCubeSat-GG
- XaTcobeo