Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions - Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Apr. 04, 2014	Mar. 29, 2013
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable, Billed	$ 129,794	$ 134,206
Accounts receivable, Unbilled	143,651	134,198
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(1,554)	(1,434)
Accounts receivable, net	271,891	266,970
Inventories:
Raw materials	42,786	40,308
Work in process	22,279	21,298
Finished goods	54,536	44,675
Inventories	119,601	106,281
Prepaid expenses and other current assets:
Prepaid expenses	41,341	34,257
Other	2,729	6,562
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	44,070	40,819
Other assets:
Capitalized software costs, net	91,022	60,596
Patents, orbital slots and other licenses, net	15,700	11,100
Deferred income taxes	110,711	97,238
Other	39,535	36,314
Other assets	256,968	205,248
Accrued liabilities:
Collections in excess of revenues and deferred revenues	69,127	65,822
Accrued employee compensation	23,954	23,925
Accrued vacation	22,550	19,252
Warranty reserve, current portion	9,368	8,840
Other	49,119	44,070
Accrued liabilities	174,118	161,909
Other liabilities:
Deferred revenue, long-term portion	10,097	15,360
Deferred rent, long-term portion	9,758	8,964
Warranty reserve, long-term portion	7,655	5,267
Deferred income taxes, long-term portion	816	1,547
Unrecognized tax position liabilities		493
Other liabilities	48,893	52,640
Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	804,794	658,184
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(173,958)	(123,094)
Property and equipment, net	630,836	535,090
Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	781,752	661,481
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(360,086)	(282,790)
Property and equipment, net	421,666	378,691
Satellite - WildBlue-1 [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	195,890	195,890
Capital lease of satellite capacity - Anik F2 [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	99,090	99,090
Satellite - ViaSat-1 [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	363,204	363,204
Satellite - ViaSat-2 (under construction) [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	146,610
Equipment and software [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	452,197	381,086
CPE leased equipment [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	221,017	170,934
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(79,800)	(51,500)
Furniture and fixtures [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	18,773	15,716
Leasehold improvements [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	62,159	57,691
Building [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	8,923	8,923
Land [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Land held for sale		2,846
Property and equipment	1,621	1,260
Construction in progress [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	17,062	23,025
Satellite Performance Incentives Obligation [Member]
Other liabilities:
Satellite performance incentives obligation, long-term portion	$ 20,567	$ 21,009