Commitments and Contingencies (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Sublease income	$ 0	$ 0
Investments in affiliates	24,574	53,430
Globalstar do Brasil S.A. [Member]
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Loss contingency accrual	200	300
Pre Closing Taxes Indemnification [Member] \| Sale of SSL, Nov. 02, 2012 [Member]
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Indemnification refund receivable	2,400	2,400
Russian Joint Venture [Member]
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Equity method investment maximum expected net realization sale of interest	1,000
Investments in affiliates	$ 0	$ 0

Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]

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- Definition

Maximum amount realizable, net of expenses, upon sale of interest in Equity Method Investee

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Indemnification refund receivable.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

This item represents the carrying amount on the entity's balance sheet of its investment in common stock of an equity method investee. This is not an indicator of the fair value of the investment, rather it is the initial cost adjusted for the entity's share of earnings and losses of the investee, adjusted for any distributions (dividends) and other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
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- Definition

Amount of loss contingency liability.

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
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- Definition

Amount of sublease income excluding finance and operating lease expense.

+ References

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
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-Section 55
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888399&loc=SL77918982-209971

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