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Settlement arrived at with plaintiff payable jointly and severally with a couterparty

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Amount of each installment payable on a joint and several liability basis

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Future payments jointly and severally payable with a counterparty upon law suit settlement.

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Interest on installments payable

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End date of installments jointly and severally payable with counterparty towards settlement of lawsuit.

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Frequency of installments jointly and severally payable towards settlement of lawsuit.

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Number of installments payable on a joint and several liability basis

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Number of installments remaining to settle lawsuit liability

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Start date of installments jointly and severally payable with counterparty towards settlement of lawsuit.

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Carrying value of lawsuit settlement obligation

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Total amount of installments outstanding.

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Obligation with joint and several liability - amount payable by counterparty

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Amount of loss contingency liability.

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Amount of payments made reducing loss contingency liability.

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Identifies the plaintiff in the lawsuit.

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Name of the other party to the settlement agreement.

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The effective date of a duly executed litigation settlement agreement.

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Amount of joint and several liability recognized in the balance sheet.

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Commitments and Contingencies (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Jan. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Other current assets	$ 1,775,000us-gaap_OtherAssetsCurrent	$ 4,352,000us-gaap_OtherAssetsCurrent
Restructuring costs			11,800,000us-gaap_SeveranceCosts1
Restructuring costs paid	100,000us-gaap_PaymentsForRestructuring	3,300,000us-gaap_PaymentsForRestructuring
Supplemental unemployment benefits, severance benefits	400,000	500,000
Pre Closing Taxes Indemnification [Member] \| Sale of SS/L [Member]
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Loss contingency accrual	(400,000)	100,000
ViaSat Lawsuit [Member] \| Sale of SS/L [Member]
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Settlement agreement date					September 2014
Settlement agreement, plaintiff's name					ViaSat, Inc.
Settlement agreement, counterparty's name					SS/L
Lawsuit settlement amount, joint & several liability					100,000,000
Lawsuit settlement initial payment, joint & several liability					40,000,000
Lawsuit settlement future payments, joint & several liability	55,200,000				60,000,000
Lawsuit settlement installment number, joint and several liability					10
Lawsuit settlement installment frequency, joint & several liability					quarterly
Lawsuit settlement amount of each installment, joint & several liability					6,900,000
Lawsuit settlement installment start date, joint & several liability					Oct. 15, 2014
Lawsuit settlement installment end date, joint & several liability					Jan. 15, 2017
Obligation with joint and several liability arrangement, amount recognized	45,000,000
Obligation with joint and several liability amount payable by counterparty	55,000,000
Payments for legal settlements	20,800,000			2,800,000
Lawsuit settlement installments remaining				8
Lawsuit settlement, total amount outstanding installments				22,500,000
Lawsuit settlement installment discount rate				3.25%
Lawsuit settlement obligation carrying value	23,300,000
Globalstar do Brasil S.A. [Member]
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Loss contingency accrual	1,000,000	1,300,000
Loss contingency cash payment		$ 3,700,000