The space shuttle Atlantis and its seven-astronaut crew undocked from the International Space Station on Wednesday as it prepared its return to Earth.

Atlantis lifted from the orbiting outpost at 9.53am. Pilot Barry Wilmore then circled the space station before firing the shuttle's thrusters twice at 11.04am and 11.32am to leave the vicinity.

The shuttle moved away at 1.5 feet per second, according to the US space agency NASA.

The astronauts are scheduled to land back on Earth at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 9.44am on Friday.

They completed three spacewalks to install high-tech equipment on the ISS during an eventful 11-day mission that also saw mission specialist Randy Bresnik buoyed by the birth of his second daughter, Abigail Mae Bresnik, back on Earth late on Saturday, shortly after his first ever spacewalk.

He got the news by private phone patch through mission control after the crew was awakened.

During their stay, the astronauts installed communications antennas and a wireless video system, changed the location of a monitor for electrical hazards, deployed a cargo attachment system and placed an oxygen tank and new scientific experiment outside the station.

Space station flight engineer Nicole Stott also hitched a ride aboard Atlantis on its return to Earth after a three-month stint aboard the ISS.

On Tuesday, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne handed over command of the station to Jeff Williams, a veteran NASA astronaut who arrived at the space station in October.

De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk are due to leave the station for return to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule on 1 December after 188 days in space.

After Atlantis, just six space missions will remain in the shuttle program before the fleet's three orbiters are retired.