Magnum ELINT satellite (reported)
E749108
The Magnum ELINT satellite (reported) was a classified U.S. signals intelligence spacecraft believed to have been deployed in the mid-1980s to intercept and analyze electronic communications from orbit.
All labels observed (5)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T8674151 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Magnum ELINT satellite (reported) Context triple: [STS-51-C, payload, Magnum ELINT satellite (reported)]
-
A.
ANIK C2 communications satellite
ANIK C2 is a Canadian commercial communications satellite used to provide telecommunications and broadcasting services.
-
B.
Sapphire (satellite)
Sapphire is a Canadian military surveillance satellite designed to track space objects and contribute to space situational awareness.
-
C.
SBS-4 communications satellite
The SBS-4 communications satellite was a commercial telecommunications spacecraft operated by Satellite Business Systems to provide business-oriented communication services in North America.
-
D.
Telstar 3C communications satellite
Telstar 3C was a commercial communications satellite launched in 1984 to provide telecommunications services, including television and data transmission, primarily over North America.
-
E.
Molniya communications satellites
Molniya communications satellites are Soviet/Russian spacecraft placed in highly elliptical Molniya orbits to provide long-duration communications coverage over high-latitude regions such as northern Russia.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Magnum ELINT satellite (reported) Target entity description: The Magnum ELINT satellite (reported) was a classified U.S. signals intelligence spacecraft believed to have been deployed in the mid-1980s to intercept and analyze electronic communications from orbit.
-
A.
ANIK C2 communications satellite
ANIK C2 is a Canadian commercial communications satellite used to provide telecommunications and broadcasting services.
-
B.
Sapphire (satellite)
Sapphire is a Canadian military surveillance satellite designed to track space objects and contribute to space situational awareness.
-
C.
SBS-4 communications satellite
The SBS-4 communications satellite was a commercial telecommunications spacecraft operated by Satellite Business Systems to provide business-oriented communication services in North America.
-
D.
Telstar 3C communications satellite
Telstar 3C was a commercial communications satellite launched in 1984 to provide telecommunications services, including television and data transmission, primarily over North America.
-
E.
Molniya communications satellites
Molniya communications satellites are Soviet/Russian spacecraft placed in highly elliptical Molniya orbits to provide long-duration communications coverage over high-latitude regions such as northern Russia.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (41)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
classified spacecraft
ⓘ
reconnaissance satellite ⓘ |
| allegedCoverName | Magnum ⓘ |
| associatedAgency |
Central Intelligence Agency
ⓘ
United States Air Force ⓘ |
| confirmationStatus | reported but not officially confirmed ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States
ⓘ
linked to:
United States of America
|
| dataTypeCollected |
communications signals
ⓘ
electromagnetic emissions ⓘ radar signals ⓘ |
| deploymentMethod | shuttle-deployed upper stage ⓘ |
| domain | space-based reconnaissance ⓘ |
| era | Cold War ⓘ |
| evidenceStatus | unacknowledged by official sources ⓘ |
| informationSource |
independent satellite observers
ⓘ
open-source intelligence analysis ⓘ |
| launchPeriod | mid-1980s ⓘ |
| launchSite | Kennedy Space Center ⓘ |
| launchVehicle | Space Shuttle ⓘ |
| missionType |
electronic intelligence
ⓘ
signals intelligence ⓘ |
| operator |
United States National Reconnaissance Office
ⓘ
linked to:
National Reconnaissance Office
United States intelligence community ⓘ
linked to:
United States Intelligence Community
|
| orbitType |
geosynchronous orbit
ⓘ
near-geosynchronous orbit ⓘ |
| platformType | large geostationary SIGINT platform ⓘ |
| primaryTargetRegion |
Middle East
ⓘ
Soviet Union ⓘ |
| programNature | black program ⓘ |
| purpose |
electronic intelligence collection
ⓘ
interception of electronic communications ⓘ interception of radar emissions ⓘ signals intelligence collection ⓘ strategic intelligence gathering ⓘ |
| relatedProgram |
Mentor signals intelligence satellite
ⓘ
linked to:
Magnum ELINT satellite (reported)
Orion ELINT satellite ⓘ
linked to:
Orion signals intelligence satellite
|
| securityClassification | Top Secret ⓘ |
| status | classified ⓘ |
| successorProgram | Orion signals intelligence satellite ⓘ |
| user |
United States Department of Defense
ⓘ
linked to:
Department of Defense
United States intelligence agencies ⓘ
linked to:
United States Intelligence Community
|
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Magnum ELINT satellite (reported) Description of subject: The Magnum ELINT satellite (reported) was a classified U.S. signals intelligence spacecraft believed to have been deployed in the mid-1980s to intercept and analyze electronic communications from orbit.
Referenced by (5)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject linked to:
Space Shuttle mission STS-51-C
linked to: Magnum ELINT satellite (reported)
Jumpseat signals intelligence satellites
→
relatedProgram
→
Magnum signals intelligence satellites
ⓘ
linked to: Magnum ELINT satellite (reported)
linked to: Magnum ELINT satellite (reported)
subject linked to:
Magnum ELINT satellite (reported)
linked to: Magnum ELINT satellite (reported)