Please answer the given financial question based on the context.
Context: 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: The answer is:7657.1