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Space Shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-104) is one of the three currently operational orbiters in the Space Shuttle fleet of NASA, the space agency of the United States. (The other two are Discovery and Endeavour.) Atlantis is named after a two-masted sailing ship that was operated for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute from 1930 to 1966. Atlantis was the fourth operational shuttle built and was delivered to Kennedy Space Center in April 1985.

Atlantis lifted off on its maiden voyage on Oct. 3, 1985, on mission 51-J. Later missions included the launch of the Magellan probe to Venus on STS-30 in May 1989, Galileo interplanetary probe to Jupiter on STS-34 in October 1989, the first shuttle docking to the Mir Space Station on STS-71 in June1995 and the final Hubble servicing mission on STS-125 in May 2009. STS-132 is Atlantis’ 32nd flight and its 11th flight Shuttle Atlantis to the station.

Space shuttle Atlantis will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini Research Module to the International Space Station. Shuttle mission STS-132 (ISS assembly flight ULF4) is the final scheduled flight for Atlantis to visit the International Space Station, targeted for 14 May 2010.