Robot model
CIMON
Crew Interactive Mobile Companion: a free-flying spherical ISS crew-assistant built by Airbus (funded by DLR) using IBM Watson for natural-language interaction.
- Manufacturer
- Airbus
- Form factor
- space
- Maturity
- research
- Lifecycle
- discontinued
- Deployments
- 1
- Website
- airbus.com ↗
The verified answer
As of Sep 2026, DEPLOY verifies CIMON, a space by Airbus (research): 1 verified deployment on record. 4 sources back the record.
discontinuedDiscontinued. The product or service is no longer actively pursued by the maker.
Overview
Crew Interactive Mobile Companion: a free-flying spherical ISS crew-assistant built by Airbus (funded by DLR) using IBM Watson for natural-language interaction. Activated and controlled by astronaut voice command ('wake up'); it is a voice assistant with autonomous free-flight station-keeping, NOT an autonomous agent. CIMON-1 demonstrated on the ISS from 2018-06-29 and returned to Earth 2019-08-27; CIMON-2 launched 2019-12-05 (later operational status not publicly confirmed).
Verified vs. claimed
- Maturity stage
- research(Lab-stage only; no commercial or public deployment reported.)
- Sources on file
- View all sources →
Key facts
Focus
Robot
Backers
Technology
Specs
Ai
Role
Builder
Runtime
Autonomy
Weight kg
Data & sources
Web sources
4
4 sources backing this record.View all →
Availability and pricing
- Availability
- Not disclosed
- Price
- $5.5M (actual sale price)as of 2018-06-29
- Units in field
- Not disclosed
- Sales model
- Not disclosed
- Lead time
- Not disclosed
Pricing
Price status: actual-sale-price = real published price at time of sale; manufacturer-target = vendor target, not yet realized; analyst-estimate = third-party projection, not a vendor figure; not-announced = no price on record.
Prices verified as of Jun 29, 2018
Deployments (1)
CIMON-1 delivered 2018-07-02; returned Earth 2019-08-27 (ended).
CIMON on the deployment map
View the global mapWhere CIMON is verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
Alexander Gerst interacts with CIMON
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 7, 2026
Horizons science - Cimon
- Sources verifiedVerifiedJun 7, 2026
source added -> DLR: CIMON-2 makes its debut on the ISS
- Sources verifiedVerifiedJun 7, 2026
source added -> Airbus: Crew assistant CIMON...
- Record createdJun 6, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Safety record
No incidents on record for CIMON.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Sources (4)
Common questions
What is CIMON?
How much does CIMON cost?
Is CIMON actually deployed in the real world?
What are the specs of CIMON?
Who makes CIMON?
Where is CIMON deployed?
Can you buy CIMON?
What are alternatives to CIMON?
How does CIMON compare to Chang'e Lander?
Is CIMON a top space?
What is CIMON's maturity stage?
Is CIMON still being made?
Is CIMON safe?
What is the CIMON robot?
Methodology: Verified · 4 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-15
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-15
Maturity + lifecycle
Maturity stage: research
Lifecycle: discontinued
Architectural position
Cohort: space
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- knowledge-base
- Knowledge base
- 2
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for CIMON.Recent coverage
CIMON in third-party press
Attention vs reality over time
Media mentions per month (area) against verified deployment events (dots). A press spike over a flat deployment line is the hype gap, drawn over time.
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning CIMON from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Fighter jets scrambled as Tel Aviv-bound flight triggers false hijack alarm
A technical error caused a Tel Aviv-bound flight to report a hijacking Tuesday that led to Israeli and Bulgarian jets scrambling to intercept the aircraft, Bulgaria’s transport…
EU Orders Airbus to Inspect Cracks in Wings of A380 Planes
Cracks in the wing beam of some A380 planes were discovered during previous inspections, with regulators warning that the issue could compromise the wing's structural integrity.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /models/cimon.md
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/models/61cff193-7f38-4434-ad75-3b057c54e1ae
- Revision history: /models/cimon/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Video
#a400m #militaryaviation #airbus #aircraft #shorts #usmilitary . How Does an Airbus A400M Atlas Park Safely⁉️ . How does a massive Airbus A400M Atlas park safe
#airbusa400m #militaryaviation #aircraft #aviation #airforce #usmilitary . How the Airbus A400M's Giant Cargo Door Is Tested . How is the Airbus A400M Atlas's
Reality vs attention
CIMON draws attention at the 67th percentile but verifies reality at the 18th percentile among space robots. Hype Gap +49.1, 6th widest among space robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Thin deployment record; scale validation still in progress.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Sep 5, 2026