This contribution is focused on the STELLA project (STELlar LAboratory), which aims at the measurement of fusion cross sections between light heavy ions like 12 C+12 C, 12 C+16 O or 16 O+16 O at deep subbarrier energies. The gamma-particle coincidence technique is used in order to reduce background contributions that become dominant for measurements in the nanobarn regime.The experimental setup composed of an ultra high vacuum reaction chamber, a set of 3 silicon strip detectors, up to 36 LaBr3 (Ce) scintillators from the UK FATIMA collaboration, and a fast rotating target system will be described. The 12 C+12 C fusion reaction has been studied from Elab = 11 to 5.6 MeV using STELLA at the Andromede facility in Orsay, France. Preliminary commissioning results are presented in this article.