The US shuttle Discovery made a textbook docking late on Sunday with the International Space Station where a total of 13 astronauts begin nine days together improving and supplying the orbiting outpost.

US space agency NASA confirmed the docking procedure, which allows the seven-member Discovery crew to open a hatch and climb into the ISS to join their six fellow astronauts there, occured at 11.54pm GMT, about ten minutes ahead of schedule.

Commander Rick Sturckow guided the shuttle to a "smooth-as-silk" mating of the two vessels some 362 kilometres above the Atlantic ocean, said a commentator on NASA TV.

"Both vehicles at free drift, all thrusts disabled," he added.

The astronauts then began some 90 minutes of checks to complete on either side of the docking interface before opening the hatches.

As the shuttle sped toward the ISS, the astronauts conducted a routine inspection of Discovery's heat shield by maneuvering a sensor on a robotic arm to look for possible damage.

Then a more comprehensive inspection was performed ahead of the docking with the ISS, with Sturckow guiding Discovery into a slow-motion backflip that allowed the station's crew to snap hundreds of digital photographs of the heat shield from some 183 metres away to look for any damage that may have occurred during liftoff.

The inspections have been taking place on every shuttle mission since heat shield damage caused Columbia to explode as it returned to Earth in 2003, killing its seven astronauts.

Discovery's seven astronauts ? including one Swede ? are delivering equipment for a new bedroom, a treadmill, a freezer, food and other supplies.

They will also be dropping off the newest member of the ISS team ? US astronaut Nicole Stott, who will be taking over from engineer and fellow American Tim Kopra.

Kopra has been aboard the orbiting laboratory since July and is returning to Earth with the shuttle.

Discovery began its latest journey with the failure of one of two small steering jets that flank the orbiter nose after a leak, but NASA said the loss would have no impact on the shuttle's flight or return to Earth.

The crew will close a manifold to isolate both jets and disable them from use for the remainder of the mission, said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.