STS-122
Columbus: Europe's Permanent Laboratory Joins the ISS
STS-122 delivered the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory and installed it on Harmony, creating a permanent European research facility aboard the station.
Mission type
Crewed Space Shuttle assembly mission
Launch
February 7, 2008
Mission end / docking
February 20, 2008
Launch vehicle / spacecraft
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Objective
What this ISS mission set out to accomplish
Deliver and activate Europe's Columbus laboratory, expanding the station's pressurized and external research capability and completing a major international-partner contribution.
This record treats STS-122 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-122 launched on February 7, 2008 using Space Shuttle Atlantis from Kennedy Space Center, Launch Pad 39A.
Atlantis transported Columbus in its payload bay. Canadarm2 and spacewalkers moved the laboratory to Harmony, completed mechanical attachment, and connected power, data, and thermal-control systems.
Hardware and assembly
What was delivered, installed, or reconfigured
Primary hardware or assembly focus: Columbus Laboratory.
Installation record: Columbus installed on February 11, 2008. This is the engineering connection between the mission story and the interactive International Space Station breakdown.
Outcome
What changed on the International Space Station
Columbus became ESA's permanent orbital laboratory, supporting internal experiment racks and external payload facilities for long-duration research.
The documented result makes STS-122 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.