Please answer the given financial question based on the context.
Context: operating profit for the segment decreased by 1% ( 1 % ) in 2010 compared to 2009 . for the year , operating profit declines in defense more than offset an increase in civil , while operating profit at intelligence essentially was unchanged . the $ 27 million decrease in operating profit at defense primarily was attributable to a decrease in the level of favorable performance adjustments on mission and combat systems activities in 2010 . the $ 19 million increase in civil principally was due to higher volume on enterprise civilian services . operating profit for the segment decreased by 3% ( 3 % ) in 2009 compared to 2008 . operating profit declines in civil and intelligence partially were offset by growth in defense . the decrease of $ 29 million in civil 2019s operating profit primarily was attributable to a reduction in the level of favorable performance adjustments on enterprise civilian services programs in 2009 compared to 2008 . the decrease in operating profit of $ 27 million at intelligence mainly was due to a reduction in the level of favorable performance adjustments on security solution activities in 2009 compared to 2008 . the increase in defense 2019s operating profit of $ 29 million mainly was due to volume and improved performance in mission and combat systems . the decrease in backlog during 2010 compared to 2009 mainly was due to higher sales volume on enterprise civilian service programs at civil , including volume associated with the dris 2010 program , and mission and combat system programs at defense . backlog decreased in 2009 compared to 2008 due to u.s . government 2019s exercise of the termination for convenience clause on the tsat mission operations system ( tmos ) contract at defense , which resulted in a $ 1.6 billion reduction in orders . this decline more than offset increased orders on enterprise civilian services programs at civil . we expect is&gs will experience a low single digit percentage decrease in sales for 2011 as compared to 2010 . this decline primarily is due to completion of most of the work associated with the dris 2010 program . operating profit in 2011 is expected to decline in relationship to the decline in sales volume , while operating margins are expected to be comparable between the years . space systems our space systems business segment is engaged in the design , research and development , engineering , and production of satellites , strategic and defensive missile systems , and space transportation systems , including activities related to the planned replacement of the space shuttle . government satellite programs include the advanced extremely high frequency ( aehf ) system , the mobile user objective system ( muos ) , the global positioning satellite iii ( gps iii ) system , the space-based infrared system ( sbirs ) , and the geostationary operational environmental satellite r-series ( goes-r ) . strategic and missile defense programs include the targets and countermeasures program and the fleet ballistic missile program . space transportation includes the nasa orion program and , through ownership interests in two joint ventures , expendable launch services ( united launch alliance , or ula ) and space shuttle processing activities for the u.s . government ( united space alliance , or usa ) . the space shuttle is expected to complete its final flight mission in 2011 and our involvement with its launch and processing activities will end at that time . space systems 2019 operating results included the following : ( in millions ) 2010 2009 2008 .
|( in millions )|2010|2009|2008|
|net sales|$ 8246|$ 8654|$ 8027|
|operating profit|972|972|953|
|operating margin|11.8% ( 11.8 % )|11.2% ( 11.2 % )|11.9% ( 11.9 % )|
|backlog at year-end|17800|16800|17900|
net sales for space systems decreased by 5% ( 5 % ) in 2010 compared to 2009 . sales declined in all three lines of business during the year . the $ 253 million decrease in space transportation principally was due to lower volume on the space shuttle external tank , commercial launch vehicle activity and other human space flight programs , which partially were offset by higher volume on the orion program . there were no commercial launches in 2010 compared to one commercial launch in 2009 . strategic & defensive missile systems ( s&dms ) sales declined $ 147 million principally due to lower volume on defensive missile programs . the $ 8 million sales decline in satellites primarily was attributable to lower volume on commercial satellites , which partially were offset by higher volume on government satellite activities . there was one commercial satellite delivery in 2010 and one commercial satellite delivery in 2009 . net sales for space systems increased 8% ( 8 % ) in 2009 compared to 2008 . during the year , sales growth at satellites and space transportation offset a decline in s&dms . the sales growth of $ 707 million in satellites was due to higher volume in government satellite activities , which partially was offset by lower volume in commercial satellite activities . there was one commercial satellite delivery in 2009 and two deliveries in 2008 . the increase in sales of $ 21 million in space transportation primarily was due to higher volume on the orion program , which more than offset a decline in the space shuttle 2019s external tank program . there was one commercial launch in both 2009 and 2008 . s&dms 2019 sales decreased by $ 102 million mainly due to lower volume on defensive missile programs , which more than offset growth in strategic missile programs. .
Question: what were average net sales for space systems in millions from 2008 to 2010?


Answer: The answer is:8309.0