Nuclear fragmentation processes are relevant in different fields of basic research and applied$\backslash$r physics and are of particular interest for tumor therapy and for space radiation protection$\backslash$r applications. The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at SIS$\backslash$r accelerator of GSI laboratory in Darmstadt, has been designed for the measurement of different ions$\backslash$r fragmentation cross sections at different energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/nucleon. The experiment$\backslash$r is performed by an international collaboration made of institutions from Germany, France, Italy and$\backslash$r Spain. The experimental apparatus is partly based on an already existing setup made of the ALADIN$\backslash$r magnet, the MUSIC IV TPC, the LAND2 neutron detector and the TOFWALL scintillator TOF system,$\backslash$r integrated with newly designed detectors in the interaction Region (IR) around the carbon removable$\backslash$r target: a scintillator Start Counter, a Beam Monitor drift chamber, a silicon Vertex Detector and a$\backslash$r Proton Tagger for detection of light fragments emitted at large angles (KENTROS). The scientific$\backslash$r program of the FIRST experiment started on summer 2011 with the study of the 400 MeV/nucleon 12C$\backslash$r beam fragmentation on thin (8mm) carbon target.