SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sends AI robot pal and other experiments to space station

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off today from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, sending an AI-enabled, sphere-shaped robot companion to keep the International Space Station’s crew company.

Launch came at at 5:41 a.m. ET (2:41 a.m. PT) after a trouble-free countdown.

The European CIMON robot, complete with a video-screen smiley face, is packed aboard an uncrewed Dragon capsule along with nearly three tons of additional experiments and supplies for the space station.

The Falcon 9’s first-stage booster and the Dragon have both been previously flown — but today SpaceX made no attempt to recover the booster for a second time, primarily because the model has been rendered obsolete. Instead, the first stage fell into the Atlantic while the second stage pushed the Dragon onward to orbit.

The cargo capsule is due to rendezvous with the space station on Monday.

For more about the mission’s science payloads, check out this report from NASA.

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