Shuttle Atlantis has started docking at the the International Space Station (ISS), where it is to deliver Europe's Columbus science laboratory, which will make the European Space Agency a full member of the orbital project, BBC reported Saturday.

Columbus, whose value is set at USD 2 B, is the first part of the ISS that the European Space Agency will control, from a station in Germany.

The lab has room for three researchers in fields ranging from crop breeding to the development of advanced alloys.

Before docking, the crew was expected to guide Atlantis in a back-flip manoeuvre that will allow crew on the space station to photograph the shuttle's protective heat-resistant tiles so that engineers on earth could check for any damage to them.

The German Esa astronaut on the flight, Hans Schlegel, will play a key role in this process, carrying out two spacewalks.

His colleague Leopold Eyharts will be staying on the station to commission Columbus, a process that should take a few weeks to complete fully.

Once the lab is in place, an intensive programme of research in weightless surroundings will begin.

The experiments will also help researchers better understand the physiological demands of long-duration spaceflight, something that will be important if humans are ever to colonise the Moon or travel to Mars.

Atlantis was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, and is due to return to earth on Monday.

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