Related Party Transactions (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended						3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Jul. 05, 2012 Telesat [Member]	Mar. 28, 2012 Telesat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Telesat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Telesat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 ViaSat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 ViaSat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Viasat And Telesat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 XTAR [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 MHR Funds [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Director [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Transaction, Tax Indemnification [Member] Telesat [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Tax Indemnification [Member] Telesat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Transaction, Supplemental Capacity Revenue Share [Member] Viasat And Telesat [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Supplemental Capacity Revenue Share [Member] Viasat And Telesat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Transaction, Management Agreement [Member] XTAR [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Management Agreement [Member] XTAR [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Annual Fee [Member] Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Monthly Fee [Member] Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Director [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership interest				62.80%					56.00%
Related party transaction, date											Oct. 31, 2007			Dec. 14, 2012			Apr. 11, 2011
Transaction term											7 years						4 years
Consulting agreement, renewal term											7 years
Transaction fee																					$ 5,000,000	$ 120,000
Expenses deductible from transaction fee																						17,000
Related party annual transaction rate											7.00%
Transaction income during the period											1,250,000	1,250,000		51,000			500,000
Transaction Payments received during the period											0	1,600,000
Transaction, notes receivable											2,500,000		1,300,000
Transaction payment in promissory notes											1,300,000	0
Amounts due under the transaction																	1,500,000	1,000,000
Tax indemnification, net															500,000	500,000
Amounts due under the transaction															2,600,000	2,600,000			5,700,000	5,500,000
Tax indemnification, recorded liability															2,100,000	2,100,000
Common stock, percentage acquired by an unaffiliated third party				90.00%
Duration for shares to be paid, days				10 days
Distributions received from affiliate	375,809,000	44,000,000	376,000,000
Payment of launch and associated services actual costs by parent, percentage						15.00%
Revenue from related parties	24,156,000				24,211,000		400,000
Duration of contract assigned to Telesat								15 years
Related party transaction, expenses on transactions with related party					14,200,000									360,000
Interest expense on ChinaSat liability					100,000
Payments to related party pursuant to the ChinaSat agreement					$ 500,000
Management fee charged as a percentage of revenue																			3.70%
Percentage of outstanding voting common stock										38.30%
Percentage of combined ownership of voting and non-voting common stock										57.40%