STS-115
P3/P4 Truss and the Return of Major ISS Assembly
STS-115 resumed major ISS construction after a multi-year hiatus, installing the P3/P4 truss, a Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, and another large photovoltaic array set.
Mission type
Crewed Space Shuttle assembly mission
Launch
September 9, 2006
Mission end / docking
September 21, 2006
Launch vehicle / spacecraft
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Objective
What this ISS mission set out to accomplish
Resume station assembly by extending the port truss and adding a major solar-power channel, rotary joint, batteries, and supporting power hardware.
This record treats STS-115 as an assembly or station-support mission rather than as a satellite engineering page, keeping the mission objective separate from the hardware-level ISS engineering record.
Flight and rendezvous
How the mission reached and worked at the station
STS-115 launched on September 9, 2006 using Space Shuttle Atlantis from Kennedy Space Center, Launch Pad 39B.
Atlantis delivered the large P3/P4 assembly in its payload bay. Robotic operations positioned the structure while spacewalkers made structural and electrical connections and prepared the new arrays for deployment.
Hardware and assembly
What was delivered, installed, or reconfigured
Primary hardware or assembly focus: P3/P4 truss, Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, photovoltaic arrays, batteries.
Installation record: P3/P4 attached to P1 during STS-115. This is the engineering connection between the mission story and the interactive International Space Station breakdown.
Outcome
What changed on the International Space Station
The mission restarted large-scale station assembly, expanded electrical generation, and established the port-side rotary-joint architecture used to track the Sun.
The documented result makes STS-115 part of the larger ISS assembly chain, where individual missions progressively added structure, power, laboratories, robotics, thermal control, logistics, and crew-support systems.
Continue exploring
Follow the connected story
Open the International Space Station engineering page
See the station modules, truss systems, solar arrays, robotics, and launch/install history in the interactive engineering experience.
Browse launch records
Compare this mission with other launches and ISS assembly flights.
Browse mission records
Explore other TransitSatellite mission stories.