1000 days of PAMELA flight: Results and perspectives

PAMELA is a satellite borne experiment designed to study with great accuracy cosmic rays of galactic, solar, and trapped nature in a wide energy range (protons: 80 MeV–700 GeV, electrons 50 MeV–400 GeV). Main objective is the study of the antimatter component: antiprotons (80 MeV–190 GeV), positrons (50 MeV–270 GeV) and search for antinuclei with a precision of the order of 10−8. The experiment, housed on board the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite, was launched on June, 15th 2006 in a 350×600 km orbit with an inclination of 70°. In this work we describe the scientific objectives and the performance of PAMELA in its first 1000 days of operation, focusing on measurements of the antiparticle component and the protons of galactic origin.