Document And Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Feb. 15, 2013 Voting Common Stock [Member]	Feb. 15, 2013 Nonvoting Common Stock [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2012
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Trading Symbol	lorl
Entity Registrant Name	LORAL SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS INC.
Entity Central Index Key	0001006269
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Public Float		$ 834,647,604
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			21,262,340	9,505,673
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes