Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Jul. 01, 2011 NumberOfMonths Years	Apr. 01, 2011
Accounts receivable, net:
Allowance for doubtful accounts	$ (684)	$ (493)
Accounts Receivable, Total	177,066	191,889
Inventories:
Raw materials	51,637	46,651
Work in process	23,140	18,713
Finished goods	49,662	33,191
Inventory, Net, Total	124,439	98,555
Prepaid expenses and other current assets:
Prepaid expenses	21,152	18,235
Income tax receivable	168	26
Other	2,746	2,880
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	24,066	21,141
Satellites, net:
Satellite - WildBlue-1 (estimated useful life of 10 years)	195,890	195,890
Capital lease of satellite capacity - Anik F2 (estimated useful life of 10 years)	99,090	99,090
Satellite under construction	283,923	276,418
Satellites gross	578,903	571,398
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(45,706)	(38,398)
Satellites, net	533,197	533,000
Property and equipment, net:
Machinery and equipment (estimated useful life of 2-5 years)	127,325	122,113
Computer equipment and software (estimated useful life of 2-7 years)	95,284	66,768
CPE leased equipment (estimated useful life of 3-5 years)	64,542	61,610
Furniture and fixtures (estimated useful life of 7 years)	12,611	13,053
Leasehold improvements (estimated useful life of 2-11 years)	24,765	24,550
Building (estimated useful life of 24 years)	8,923	8,923
Land	4,384	4,384
Construction in progress	69,025	80,976
Property and equipment gross, total	406,859	382,377
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(163,636)	(149,238)
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net, Total	243,223	233,139
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Technology (weighted average useful life of 6 years)	54,456	54,344
Contracts and customer relationships (weighted average useful life of 7 years)	88,843	88,834
Non-compete agreements (weighted average useful life of 4 years)	9,352	9,332
Satellite co-location rights (weighted average useful life of 9 years)	8,600	8,600
Trade name (weighted average useful life of 3 years)	5,680	5,680
Other (weighted average useful life of 6 years)	9,335	9,331
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	176,266	176,121
Less accumulated amortization	(99,178)	(94,232)
Other acquired intangible assets, net	77,088	81,889
Accrued liabilities:
Warranty reserve, current portion	7,630	8,014
Accrued vacation	16,076	15,600
Accrued employee compensation	4,035	18,804
Collections in excess of revenues and deferred revenues	59,223	61,916
Other	28,160	26,249
Accrued liabilities	115,124	130,583
Other liabilities:
Unrecognized tax position liabilities	2,217	2,217
Deferred rent, long-term portion	6,494	6,267
Deferred revenue, long-term portion	7,380	6,960
Deferred income taxes, long-term portion	3,363	3,374
Warranty reserve, long-term portion	5,028	4,928
Other	64	96
Other liabilities	24,546	23,842
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Estimated useful life of Satellite Wild Blue	10 years
Estimated useful life of capital lease of satellite capacity - Anik F2	10 years
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life minimum (years)	2
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life maximum (years)	24
Billed Revenues [Member]
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable	84,475	100,863
Unbilled Revenues [Member]
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable	93,275	91,519
Machinery and Equipment [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life minimum (years)	2
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life maximum (years)	5
Computer equipment and software [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life minimum (years)	2
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life maximum (years)	7
Customer Premise Equipment [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	$ (22,900)	$ (19,200)
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life minimum (years)	3
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life maximum (years)	5
Furniture and Fixtures [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life (years)	7
Leaseholds and Leasehold Improvements [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life minimum (years)	2
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life maximum (years)	11
Building [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life (years)	24
Satellite co-location rights [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, estimated useful life	9
Trade Names [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, estimated useful life	3
Other intangibles [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, estimated useful life	6
Technology Equipment [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, estimated useful life	6
Contracts and customer relationships [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, estimated useful life	7
Non-compete agreements [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, estimated useful life	4