Document and Entity Information - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Feb. 17, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
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	Accelerated Filer
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Public Float			$ 448,782,710
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