begin production in early 2012 .
the output from the first line has been contracted for sale under a long-term agreement .
additionally , in march 2011 we entered into a joint venture agreement with thai beverage can limited to construct a beverage container manufacturing facility in vietnam that will begin production in the first quarter of 2012 .
we have also made recent strategic acquisitions .
in october 2011 , we acquired our partners 2019 interests in qmcp and recorded a gain of $ 9.2 million related to our previously held interest in the joint venture .
additionally , we are constructing a new expanded beverage container facility for qmcp that will begin production in the first quarter of 2012 .
in july 2010 , we entered the aluminum slug market by acquiring the leading north american manufacturer of aluminum slugs used to make extruded aerosol containers , beverage bottles , collapsible tubes and technical impact extrusions .
to further expand this new product line and broaden our market development efforts into a new customer base , in january 2011 , we acquired a leading european supplier of aluminum aerosol containers and bottles and the slugs used to make them .
further details of recent acquisitions are included in note 3 to the consolidated financial statements within item 8 of this report .
we recognize sales under long-term contracts in the aerospace and technologies segment using percentage of completion under the cost-to-cost method of accounting .
the 2011 contract mix consisted of approximately 60 percent cost-type contracts , which are billed at our costs plus an agreed upon and/or earned profit component , and 33 percent fixed-price contracts .
the remainder represents time and material contracts , which typically provide for the sale of engineering labor at fixed hourly rates .
the contracted backlog at december 31 , 2011 , of approximately $ 897 million consisted of approximately 50 percent fixed price contracts indicating a continuing trend towards more fixed price business .
throughout the period of contract performance , we regularly reevaluate and , if necessary , revise our estimates of aerospace and technologies total contract revenue , total contract cost and progress toward completion .
because of contract payment schedules , limitations on funding and other contract terms , our sales and accounts receivable for this segment include amounts that have been earned but not yet billed .
management performance measures management uses various measures to evaluate company performance such as return on average invested capital ( net operating earnings after tax over the relevant performance period divided by average invested capital over the same period ) ; economic value added ( net operating earnings after tax less a capital charge on average invested capital employed ) ; earnings before interest and taxes ( ebit ) ; earnings before interest , taxes , depreciation and amortization ( ebitda ) ; diluted earnings per share ; cash flow from operating activities and free cash flow ( generally defined by the company as cash flow from operating activities less additions to property , plant and equipment ) .
these financial measures may be adjusted at times for items that affect comparability between periods such as business consolidation costs and gains or losses on acquisitions and dispositions .
nonfinancial measures in the packaging businesses include production efficiency and spoilage rates ; quality control figures ; environmental , health and safety statistics ; production and sales volumes ; asset utilization rates ; and measures of sustainability .
additional measures used to evaluate financial performance in the aerospace and technologies segment include contract revenue realization , award and incentive fees realized , proposal win rates and backlog ( including awarded , contracted and funded backlog ) .
results of operations consolidated sales and earnings .

( $ in millions )
2011
2010
2009
net sales
$ 8630.9
$ 7630.0
$ 6710.4
net earnings attributable to ball corporation
444.0
468.0
387.9

the increase in net sales in 2011 compared to 2010 was driven largely by the increase in demand for metal packaging in the prc , improved beverage container volumes in the americas , the consolidation of latapack-ball , the acquisition of two prc joint ventures and the extruded aluminum businesses , and improved aerospace program performance .
in addition to the business segment performance analyzed below , net earnings attributable to ball corporation included discontinued operations related to the sale of the plastics business in august 2010 , business consolidation costs , debt refinancing costs , and the equity earnings and gains on the acquisitions .
these items are detailed in the 201cmanagement performance measures 201d section below .
higher sales in 2010 compared to 2009 were due largely to sales associated with 2010 business acquisitions described above .
the higher net earnings from continuing operations in 2010 compared to 2009 included $ 105.9 million of equity gains on acquisitions associated with the acquisitions. .

Question: what were average net sales in millions for the three years ending in 2011?
Answer: 7657.1
Calculation: table_average(net sales, none)