Property and Equipment and Intangible Assets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 5,856,745	$ 6,396,483
Accumulated depreciation	(3,673,084)	(3,742,212)
Property and equipment, net	2,183,661	$ 2,654,271
Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life		1 year
Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life		40 years
Equipment leased to customers
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 2,323,100	$ 2,720,695
Equipment leased to customers \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	2 years
Equipment leased to customers \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	5 years
EchoStar XV
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 277,658	277,658
Depreciable Life	15 years
EchoStar XVIII
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 411,255	411,255
Depreciable Life	15 years
D1
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 55,000	55,000
T1
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 100,000	401,721
Depreciable Life	14 years 3 months
Satellites acquired under capital lease agreements
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 499,819	499,819
Satellites acquired under capital lease agreements \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	10 years
Satellites acquired under capital lease agreements \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	15 years
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 1,779,109	1,639,051
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	1 year
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	10 years
Buildings and improvements
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 293,571	288,992
Buildings and improvements \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	1 year
Buildings and improvements \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	40 years
Land
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 14,057	14,057
Construction in progress
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 103,176	$ 88,235

Amount of accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization for physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.14)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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Amount before accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
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+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(13))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(14))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(8))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

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