THIS DAY IN HISTORY: Space Shuttle Atlantis Launches Into Space for Final Time from Kennedy Space Center
By Space Coast Daily // July 8, 2026
STS-135 was the 33rd flight of Atlantis and final mission of the Space Shuttle program
ABOVE VIDEO: Space shuttle Commander Chris Ferguson and crewmates Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim are on their way to the International Space Station after launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:29 a.m. EDT on Friday, July 8. STS-135 is the final mission of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – On July 8, 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the STS-135 mission, marking the final launch of the Space Shuttle Program.
STS-135 was the 135th and final mission of the Space Shuttle program and the 33rd flight of Atlantis.
The mission was dedicated to delivering critical supplies, equipment and spare parts to the International Space Station, helping ensure the orbiting laboratory remained well-stocked following the retirement of the shuttle fleet.
Atlantis carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, packed with nearly 10,000 pounds of cargo, science experiments, food, clothing and replacement hardware for the space station.
The shuttle also delivered the Robotic Refueling Mission, a technology demonstration designed to test techniques for servicing and refueling satellites in orbit.
The four-member crew consisted of Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim. Because STS-135 was the program’s final flight, NASA flew a crew of four instead of the traditional five to seven astronauts, allowing contingency plans to use Russian Soyuz spacecraft if an emergency return from the International Space Station became necessary.
The mission lasted 12 days, 18 hours, 28 minutes and 50 seconds.
During that time, the crew completed one spacewalk, transferred thousands of pounds of supplies to the station and returned more than 5,700 pounds of equipment and research samples to Earth.
Atlantis landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on July 21, 2011, at 5:57 a.m. EDT, bringing the Space Shuttle Program to a close after three decades of human spaceflight.
Since the first shuttle mission, STS-1, launched in April 1981, the fleet had completed 135 missions, traveled more than 542 million miles, orbited Earth more than 21,000 times and carried more than 350 astronauts into space.
The conclusion of STS-135 marked the end of an era for NASA’s reusable spacecraft program, which played a central role in deploying and servicing the Hubble Space Telescope, assembling the International Space Station and advancing scientific research in low-Earth orbit.
With a merging of technology and tears, the final chapter in the 30-year history of space shuttle flights was written.
For the thousands of engineers, technicians, astronauts and support personnel who made the program possible, as well as the millions who watched the launches from Florida’s Space Coast and around the world, Atlantis’ final mission remains one of the most significant milestones in the history of American spaceflight.
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