Earnings Per Share (Narrative) (Detail)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Dilutive ownership percent due to stock options issued by equity method investee	61.60%

Change in ownership percent due to stock options issued by equity method investee

No definition available.

Name:	lorl_EquityMethodInvestmentDilutiveOwnershipDueInvesteeStockOptions
Namespace Prefix:	lorl_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration