Atlantis flew the final Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station in 2011. The mission, STS-135, launched on July 8 and returned to Earth on July 21, ending the shuttle program.
STS-135 delivered the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and other supplies to the ISS. Its four-person crew was the smallest on a shuttle mission since STS-6 in 1983, reflecting the flight’s logistics-focused role rather than an assembly task.
Atlantis docked with the station on July 10 and undocked on July 19. The orbiter’s final landing at Kennedy Space Center concluded 30 years of shuttle operations. Endeavour had flown the preceding shuttle mission, STS-134, while Discovery had flown many earlier ISS missions; Columbia was lost during STS-107 in 2003 and never returned to flight.