The Atlantis orbiter touches down on Earth after a 13-day mission to cement Europe's position on the space station.
The spacecraft and its crew installed the 12.8-tonne Columbus science lab, an achievement that makes Europe a full member of the $100bn platform project.
Atlantis landed at Florida's Kennedy Space Center at 1407 GMT.
Now that the shuttle is down, the US military will be allowed to shoot an ailing spy satellite out of the sky.
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The mission triggers Europe's full membership of the ISS project
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The missile firing, which is likely to take place over the Pacific Ocean, could not be carried out until after Atlantis had returned for fear the ship might encounter debris on its high-speed descent.
Nasa officials earlier reported that four small steering jets on Atlantis had failed, but they stressed these thrusters were not needed to help de-orbit the shuttle or control its glide through the atmosphere.
Riding home on Atlantis was US astronaut Dan Tani, who has been a long-stay resident on the ISS since October.
His place on the platform has been taken by Frenchman Leopold Eyharts who went up with the shuttle and who will spend the coming weeks commissioning the Columbus lab.
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