The US space shuttle Atlantis has finished its final landing before sunrise at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday.

Space Shuttle Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Atlantis touched down for a final time, ending its last mission to the International Space Station and bringing down the curtain on NASA's 30-year space shuttle program.

The last return from the 135th shuttle mission has capped a 30-year long NASA space program in the United States.

The space shuttle undocked from the International Space Station on Tuesday, after it delivered some 4 tons of supplies to the platform. Similar to Discovery and Endeavor before it, Atlantis is being retired after its final 13-day mission to the ISS.

The shuttles' retirement opens the door for a new commercial space transportation industry, with NASA relying on US firms to delivery cargo to the station starting next year.

Until the space taxis are available, Russia will take on the job of flying crews to the station, at a cost of more than 50 million US dollars per person.