Superchimps

The "superchimps", or "simps", were neurologically-enhanced chimpanzees. Created by Dr. Holly Singh, they are far more intelligent that normal chimpanzees, and were intended for labor in weightless environments. However, their "test run" was held aboard the Queen Elizabeth II, and when it crashed, most of the superchimps perished. The only one that survived, Steg, suffered brain damage that rendered him incapable of labor. He died years later, when Dr. Singh attempted to send him after Space Board Investigator Ellen Troy.

Behind the scenes
The concept of the superchimp was originally developed by Arthur C. Clarke in his award-winning novel Rendezvous with Rama, but in that novel, the "simps" were an entirely new species created through genetic engineering, rather than chimpanzees who'd undergone surgical enhancement.