Organization and Principal Business (Narrative) (Details) $ in Millions		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Nov. 02, 2012	Jul. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Organization and Principal Business [Line Items]
Date of incorporation				Jun. 24, 2005
Date of emergence from bankruptcy proceedings				Nov. 21, 2005
Telesat Holdco [Member]
Organization and Principal Business [Line Items]
Economic interest in affiliates				62.80%
Voting interest in affiliate				32.70%
Sale of SS/L [Member]
Organization and Principal Business [Line Items]
Disposal segment, sale date	Nov. 02, 2012
Date purchase agreement entered into	Jun. 26, 2012
Date of first modification of purchase agreement	Oct. 30, 2012
Date of second modification of purchase agreement	Mar. 28, 2013
ViaSat Lawsuit [Member] | Sale of SS/L [Member]
Organization and Principal Business [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			$ 100.0
Lawsuit settlement initial payment, joint & several liability			40.0
Lawsuit settlement future payments, joint & several liability			$ 60.0	$ 44.1	$ 55.2
Lawsuit settlement installment number, joint and several liability			10
Lawsuit settlement amount of each installment, joint & several liability			$ 6.9
Lawsuit settlement installment start date, joint & several liability			Oct. 15, 2014
Lawsuit settlement installment end date, joint & several liability			Jan. 15, 2017
Lawsuit settlement installment frequency, joint & several liability			quarterly
Obligation with joint and several liability arrangement, amount recognized					45.0
Obligation with joint and several liability amount payable by counterparty					$ 55.0
Cumulative payments for legal settlements				$ 26.4
ViaSat Lawsuit [Member] | Sale of SS/L [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Organization and Principal Business [Line Items]
Payments for legal settlements		$ 2.8
Lawsuit settlement installments remaining		6
Lawsuit settlement, total amount outstanding installments		$ 16.9
Lawsuit settlement installment discount rate		3.25%