Kosmos 2044, or Bion 9 (in Russian: Бион 9, Космос 2044) was a biomedical research mission involving in nine countries plus ESA: United Kingdom, Hungarian People's Republic, East Germany, Polish People's Republic, Czechoslovakia, United States, Canada, Australia, Soviet Union and European Space Agency (ESA).

Eighty experiments were conducted in such categories as motion sickness, reproduction and regeneration, immunology, and readaptation to a normal gravity environment.

The joint United States/Soviet Union experiments were conducted on 2 rhesus monkeys and 10 male Wistar rats.

The biological payload also included cell cultures (Escherichia coli).

The 2.3 m diameter descent sphere was successfully recovered after 14 days, but a failure in the thermal control system resulted in the deaths of some of the specimens.