Atlantis will fly to the International Space Station with a year's worth of supplies. NASA said this will be enough supplies to keep the station running if private U.S. companies fall behind in their effort to launch their own cargo ships.
"This flight is incredibly important to space station," NASA's chief of space operations, Bill Gerstenmaier, told reporters. "The cargo that is coming up on this flight is really mandatory."
Atlantis will take four veteran astronauts aboard for its final flight.
NASA spent the past week testing a new fuel valve installed in one of Atlantis' main engines to stop a leak found during a fueling test. Gerstenmaier said a small particle was found in the removed valve and likely contributed to the leak.
The July 8 ascent will be the 135th shuttle launch and the 33rd for Atlantis.
In total, 355 individuals will have flown 852 times on those 135 missions since the very first shuttle flight on April 12, 1981.
The five space shuttles used during the program have logged 537,114,061 miles, which is roughly similar to traveling from the Earth to the Sun and back three times.
Atlantis will add a further four million miles to that total.
Discovery was the first ship to complete its career in March, followed by Endeavour, which landed one last time on June 1.
All three shuttles will be retired to museums.
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