Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Oct. 28, 2016
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	lorl
Entity Registrant Name	LORAL SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS INC.
Entity Central Index Key	0001006269
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Voting Common Stock [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		21,427,078
Nonvoting Common Stock [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		9,505,673