On July 21, 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at Kennedy Space Center, completing mission STS-135 and ending NASA’s thirty‑year shuttle program. During the landing, commander Christopher Ferguson said the space shuttle changed how we view the world.
NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. said the final shuttle flight marked the end of an era and that NASA would continue human spaceflight while maintaining U.S. leadership. Each shuttle was rated for one hundred missions, but the fleet flew no more than one‑third of that total, meaning a full lifetime would have required about a century to achieve.
Plans called for commercial vehicles to carry crews and supplies to the International Space Station after the shuttle program ended. When the shuttle program ended, SpaceX’s prospects as a commercial partner relied on NASA and Congress, which appeared unreliable.
On July 12, 2026, the Atlantis crew said the STS-135 mission still highlights the Shuttle program’s enduring impact on space exploration. They added that the mission’s role in enabling Hubble Space Telescope discoveries continues to be a significant part of that legacy.
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