NASA has set a target launch date of June 28 for its Atlantis shuttle, making it a de-facto final flight of its space shuttle fleet.

This summer's launch of the Atlantis will not be officially included into the Space Shuttle program.

There are two scheduled Space Shuttle flights remaining - Discovery is to be launched to the ISS on February 24, while the planned launch of Endeavour on April 19 is expected to mark the official end of the Space Shuttle program.

The U.S. space agency says its shuttles are outdated and too expensive to maintain.

Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft will take U.S. astronauts and cargos to the space station after NASA stops launching its shuttles.

MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti)