Related Party Transactions (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jul. 05, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Mar. 28, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Apr. 11, 2011 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Viasat [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Viasat [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Viasat And Telesat [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Xtar [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 MHR Funds [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 MHR Funds [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Director [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Director [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Transaction, Tax Indemnification [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Tax Indemnification [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Transaction, Supplemental Capacity Revenue Share [Member] Viasat And Telesat [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Transaction, Supplemental Capacity Revenue Share [Member] Viasat And Telesat [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Supplemental Capacity Revenue Share [Member] Viasat And Telesat [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Transaction, Management Agreement [Member] Xtar [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Management Agreement [Member] Xtar [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Annual Fee [Member] Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Monthly Fee [Member] Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Director [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Economic interest in affiliates							62.80%
Percentage of ownership interest														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	3,800,000	3,800,000		51,000	153,000			300,000	1,000,000
Transaction Payments received during the period																			5,100,000	1,600,000
Transaction, notes receivable																	0		0		1,300,000
Amounts due under the transaction																										300,000	300,000	1,000,000
Tax indemnification, net																								500,000	500,000
Amounts due under the transaction																								2,600,000	2,600,000				6,300,000	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		420,199,000	44,000,000	376,000,000
Payment of launch and associated services actual costs by parent, percentage											15.00%
Revenue from related parties	9,363,000	55,946,000				9,383,000		56,095,000				400,000
Percentage of entity's entitlement to net revenue of related party					50.00%
Duration of contract assigned to Telesat													15 years
Expenses on transactions with related party									5,500,000	29,900,000												360,000	1,080,000
Interest expense on ChinaSat liability									100,000	200,000
Payments to related party pursuant to the ChinaSat agreement										$ 2,000,000
Management fee charged as a percentage of revenue																													3.70%
Percentage of outstanding voting common stock															38.00%	38.30%
Percentage of combined ownership of voting and non-voting common stock															57.10%	57.40%