Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011 Year Month	Apr. 01, 2011
Accounts receivable, net:
Allowance for doubtful accounts	$ (906)	$ (493)
Accounts receivable, net	198,488	191,889
Inventories:
Raw materials	49,905	46,651
Work in process	20,658	18,713
Finished goods	51,780	33,191
Inventories	122,343	98,555
Prepaid expenses and other current assets:
Prepaid expenses	27,380	18,235
Income tax receivable	155	26
Other	17,033	2,880
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	44,568	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	329,053	276,418
Satellites gross	624,033	571,398
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(53,080)	(38,398)
Satellites, net	570,953	533,000
Property and equipment, net:
Machinery and equipment (estimated useful life of 2-5 years)	140,351	122,113
Computer equipment and software (estimated useful life of 2-7 years)	98,402	66,768
CPE leased equipment (estimated useful life of 3-5 years)	68,477	61,610
Furniture and fixtures (estimated useful life of 7 years)	13,330	13,053
Leasehold improvements (estimated useful life of 1-15 years)	25,106	24,550
Building (estimated useful life of 24 years)	8,923	8,923
Land	4,384	4,384
Construction in progress	83,150	80,976
Property and equipment gross, total	442,123	382,377
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(178,176)	(149,238)
Property equipment, net	263,947	233,139
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Technology (weighted average useful life of 6 years)	54,088	54,344
Contracts and customer relationships (weighted average useful life of 7 years)	88,773	88,834
Non-compete agreement (weighted average useful life of 4 years)	9,331	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)	9,332	9,331
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	175,804	176,121
Less accumulated amortization	(103,725)	(94,232)
Other acquired intangible assets, net	72,079	81,889
Accrued liabilities:
Warranty reserve, current portion	7,493	8,014
Accrued vacation	15,931	15,600
Accrued employee compensation	13,243	18,804
Collections in excess of revenues and deferred revenues	59,834	61,916
Other	20,808	26,249
Accrued liabilities	117,309	130,583
Other liabilities:
Unrecognized tax position liabilities	2,217	2,217
Deferred rent, long-term portion	6,962	6,363
Deferred revenue, long-term portion	7,047	6,960
Deferred income taxes, long-term portion	3,297	3,374
Warranty reserve, long-term portion	4,899	4,928
Other liabilities	24,422	23,842
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life minimum (years)	1
Property and equipment estimated useful life maximum (years)	24
Billed [Member]
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable	97,979	100,863
Unbilled [Member]
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable	101,415	91,519
Machinery and Equipment [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life minimum (years)	2
Property and equipment estimated useful life maximum (years)	5
Computer equipment and software [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life minimum (years)	2
Property and equipment estimated useful life maximum (years)	7
CPE Leased Equipment [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	$ (26,300)	$ (19,200)
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life minimum (years)	3
Property and equipment estimated useful life maximum (years)	5
Furniture and Fixtures [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life average (years)	7
Leasehold Improvements [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life minimum (years)	1
Property and equipment estimated useful life maximum (years)	17
Building [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life average (years)	24
Capital lease of satellite capacity Anik F2 [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life (years)	10 years
Satellite WildBlue-1 [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life (years)	10 years
Satellite co-location rights [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, weighted average useful life	9
Trade Names [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, weighted average useful life	3
Other intangibles [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, weighted average useful life	6
Technology Equipment [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, weighted average useful life	6
Contracts and customer relationships [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, weighted average useful life	7
Non-compete agreements [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textuals) [Abstract]
Finite lived intangibles, weighted average useful life	4