The Space Shuttle's Last Launch
Next: July 8, 2027
One last climb into the sky.
The story
Where it comes from
This Story marks the anniversary of the Space Shuttle's final launch. At 11:29 a.m. local time on 8 July 2011, Atlantis lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on STS-135, the 135th and last mission of a programme that had flown for 30 years. Its four astronauts carried more than 3.6 tonnes of supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. Atlantis landed back in Florida on 21 July 2011, closing the shuttle era.
How it's celebrated
There is no organised observance, but space fans can mark it in simple ways. Look up on a clear night and watch for the International Space Station, which the shuttles helped to build, crossing the sky. Visit a science museum or planetarium, or share the story of the first launch you remember with someone too young to have seen one.
Did you know
- Nearly a million people gathered along Florida's beaches, rivers and causeways to watch the final launch.
- Just before liftoff, Commander Chris Ferguson said: 'We're not ending the journey today... we're completing a chapter of a journey that will never end.'
- Japan's Kibo laboratory on the station, whose name means 'hope', was carried up in pieces on three shuttle missions in 2008 and 2009.
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