Related Party Transactions (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended								0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended									12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Jul. 05, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Mar. 28, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Viasat [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Viasat [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Viasat [Member]	Apr. 11, 2011 Viasat and Telesat [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Viasat and Telesat [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Viasat and Telesat [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Xtar [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 MHR Funds [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 MHR Funds [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Director [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Director [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Transaction, Tax Indemnification [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Tax Indemnification [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 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]	Dec. 31, 2013 Transaction, Management Agreement [Member] Xtar [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Transaction, Management Agreement [Member] Xtar [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Annual Fee [Member] Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Monthly Fee [Member] Transaction, Consulting Agreement [Member] Director [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Years 2003 to 2006 [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] Brazil [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Years 1999 to 2009 [Member] Telesat Holdings Inc [Member] Hong Kong [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%	7.00%	7.00%
Transaction income during the period																			5,000,000	5,000,000	5,000,000	204,000	8,500			1,300,000	1,000,000
Transaction payments received during the period																			3,800,000	1,600,000	3,200,000
Promissory notes received for consulting fees																			1,300,000	4,500,000	3,100,000
Transaction, notes receivable																			0	1,300,000
Amounts due under the transaction																										300,000	1,000,000
Premium from sale of Loral Payload													13,000,000
Reimbursement of costs under payload and related agreements													48,200,000
Amount paid to pay off the outstanding note with interest due					2,600,000	24,100,000
Amount deposited with taxing authority																																	6,500,000
Tax assessment imposed audit																																7,000,000
Income tax settlement																																	1,300,000
Tax indemnification, net																								500,000	500,000
Amounts due under the transaction																								2,600,000				6,900,000	5,500,000
Tax indemnification, recorded liability																									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	57,571,000	139,960,000				57,745,000	139,911,000				400,000	17,700,000
Percentage of entity's entitlement to net revenue of related party													50.00%
Duration of contract assigned to Telesat														15 years
Gain on transactions with affiliate															6,900,000
Gain (loss) on transaction with subsidiary classified as discontinued operations															1,800,000
Proceeds from cumulative intercompany profit															13,000,000
Expenses on transactions with related party								30,700,000	124,500,000													1,440,000	60,000
Interest expense on ChinaSat liability								200,000	500,000
Payments to related party pursuant to the ChinaSat agreement								$ 2,200,000
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%