WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The U.S. shuttle Atlantis closed in on the International Space Station Sunday as its crew prepared for a new phase of its mission aimed at boosting the station's power-generating capacity.

The shuttle, on its first mission of the year, suffered a four-inch (10 centimeter) tear on its thermal blanket and small pieces of foam broke off from its external fuel tanks after it blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Friday.

Crew members completed scheduled inspections of the spacecraft's heat shield overnight Saturday using the shuttle's giant robotic arm to check Atlantis' underside, nose cap and edges of the wings for damage, NASA said.

Engineers and flight controllers will analyze the findings over the next few days, a statement from the space agency added.

NASA spokesman Lewis Parker from the Johnson Space Center in Houston said that the agency did not consider the damage significant.

"We do not see any cause for concern right now," Parker earlier told AFP, adding that no special action would be taken before the shuttle docks at the ISS at 3:38 pm (1938 GMT).

Cameras mounted on the robotic arm snapped pictures of the damaged part of the shuttle's insulation for engineers to examine, NASA said.

The crew geared up for Sunday's arrival by preparing the shuttle's docking mechanisms to link up to the ISS and the spacesuits they will wear on their three planned spacewalks during their week-long rendezvous with the station.

Atlantis blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida late Friday in a near-perfect launch, the first mission since hail damage to the spacecraft in a freak February storm forced NASA to scrap a March lift-off.

During their 11-day trip, the seven Atlantis astronauts plan to install a new, 16-tonne truss segment on the ISS and deliver a third set of solar panels, as well as batteries for the orbiting laboratory.

When unfolded, the arrays will provide additional power to the station in preparation for the arrival of new science modules from the European and Japanese space agencies.

The intense concern about lift-off damage stems from the February 2003 shuttle disaster, when the Columbia craft disintegrated as it returned to Earth due to breaks in its heat shield caused by foam insulation peeling off its fuel tank during the launch.

All seven astronauts aboard perished and the shuttle program was put on hold for nearly two-and-a-half years while the US space agency sought to overcome the problem.