Investments In Affiliates (Narrative) (Details)	3 Months Ended			0 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended					0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013 USD ($) item	Mar. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Jul. 05, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 05, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] CAD	Mar. 28, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 28, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] CAD	Mar. 31, 2013 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] CAD	Mar. 31, 2013 XTAR, LLC [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2009 XTAR, LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 XTAR, LLC [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 XTAR, LLC [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2008 XTAR, LLC [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 28, 2013 12.5% Senior Subordinated Notes Due November 2017 [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 12.5% Senior Subordinated Notes Due November 2017 [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Mar. 28, 2013 Credit Agreement Dated March 28, 2012 [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] CAD	Dec. 31, 2012 Nonvoting Common Stock [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Jul. 05, 2012 Telesat [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 28, 2012 Telesat [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Telesat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 28, 2013 Term Loan B [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Mar. 28, 2013 Term Loan B - Canadian Facility [Member] Credit Agreement Dated March 28, 2012 [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Mar. 28, 2013 Term Loan B - U.S. Facility [Member] Credit Agreement Dated March 28, 2012 [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Globalstar do Brasil S.A. [Member] USD ($)
Investments in and Advances to Affiliates [Line Items]
Profits recognized on affiliate sales eliminated in earlier periods		$ 4,600,000
Investments in affiliates	60,754,000		62,517,000									60,754,000		62,517,000
Economic interest in affiliates								62.80%		62.80%	62.80%
Original Economic Interest in Telesat										64.00%	64.00%
Share appreciation rights exercised by Telesat employees										5,311,568
Distributions declared to shareholders, option holders and certain employees											656,500,000
Non-voting participating preferred stock issued to Telesat Employees																				2,249,747
Voting interests, affiliates								33.33%
Deferred financing cost written-off on debt refinancing						22,000,000
Excess Distribution over carrying value of investment in Telesat								14,000,000		7,000,000
Loral's share of Telesat's future net income, minimum								14,000,000
Date of Indenture																	Jun. 30, 2008
Stated interest rate																	12.50%
Indenture maturity date																	Nov. 01, 2017
Redemeption date of debt instrument																	May 01, 2013
Distribution declared to Loral											420,000,000
Redemption rate relative to principal amount																	106.25%
Debt instrument amendment date																			Apr. 02, 2013
Debt amount converted into U.S. dollars																			34,000,000
Interest rate reduction after amendment																										0.50%
Interest rate floor after amendment																											1.00%	0.75%
Leverage ratio after amendment																			4.25
Leverage ratio before amendment																			4.00
Distributions received from affiliate		375,809,000		44,000,000	45,000,000	376,000,000	375,000,000														44,000,000	376,000,000
Income related to consulting agreement								1,250,000	1,250,000
Interest on notes																		12.50%
Interest expense Multiplier to determine EBITDA available for dividend distribution	1.40
Debt to EBITDA ratio required for payment of consulting fee to investor	5.0
Transaction Payments received during the period																								0	1,600,000
Transaction payment in promissory notes																								1,300,000	0
Percentage of ownership interest												56.00%											62.80%
Interest rate on Promissory Note issued by equity method investee to Loral								7.00%
Lease obligation												25,000,000
Maximum annual lease obligation												28,000,000
Lease agreement, Past due																32,300,000
Lease agreement, deferred amount															6,700,000
Deferred lease payments												5,000,000
Repayment term past due and deferred lease obligation, years													12 years
Discount rate for prepayment of restructured past due and deferred lease obligation												9.00%
Cumulative payments of restructured past due and deferred lease obligation												20,000,000
Indemnification liabilities																													$ 4,800,000