Property and Equipment and Intangible Assets - Additional Information (Details) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 09, 2012	Mar. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) item
Property and equipment
Impairment of long-lived assets | $			$ 356,418
Number of other satellites to be relocated in the event of failure or loss of any satellite | item			1
Wireless
Property and equipment
Impairment of long-lived assets | $			$ 227,000
AWS-4 Satellites
Property and equipment
Ownership percentage	100.00%
AWS-4 Satellites
Property and equipment
Number of satellites in-orbit | item			2
Number of satellites under construction | item			1
Fair value after write down | $		$ 0	$ 0
Impairment of long-lived assets | $		$ 103,000	103,000
T1
Property and equipment
Impairment of long-lived assets | $			48,120
D1
Property and equipment
Impairment of long-lived assets | $			55,000
Property Plant And Equipment Net
Property and equipment
Impairment of long-lived assets | $			$ 330,000
EchoStar XVIII, including capitalized interest
Property and equipment
Number of satellites utilized in geostationary orbit approximately 22,300 miles above the equator | item			13
Owned Satellites | item			8
Number of satellites utilized under operating lease | item			1
Number of satellites utilized under capital lease | item			4