CAPE CANAVERAL — The last mission in NASA’s decades-long space shuttle program is now underway.

Atlantis rocketed into orbit today at 11:29 a.m. EDT and is flying at 17,500 mph around the Earth. The mission, STS-135, will catch up with the International Space Station in two days.

The space shuttle launch marks the last in NASA’s history, closing out a government-funded space program that lasted 30 years.

“The shuttle’s always going to be a reflection of what a great nation can do when it commits to be bold and follow through,” said astronaut Chris Ferguson, commander of the mission, from the coc...