Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions - Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Oct. 03, 2014	Apr. 04, 2014
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable, Billed	$ 124,148	$ 129,794
Accounts receivable, Unbilled	156,486	143,651
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(902)	(1,554)
Accounts receivable, net	279,732	271,891
Inventories:
Raw materials	46,674	42,786
Work in process	24,140	22,279
Finished goods	56,003	54,536
Inventories	126,817	119,601
Prepaid expenses and other current assets:
Prepaid expenses	34,430	41,341
Other	4,563	2,729
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	38,993	44,070
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	190,702	166,537
Less accumulated amortization	(139,432)	(131,140)
Other acquired intangible assets, net	51,270	35,397
Other assets:
Capitalized software costs, net	104,053	91,022
Patents, orbital slots and other licenses, net	17,000	15,700
Deferred income taxes	95,770	110,711
Other	38,334	39,535
Other assets	255,157	256,968
Accrued liabilities:
Collections in excess of revenues and deferred revenues	81,852	69,127
Accrued employee compensation	14,074	23,954
Accrued vacation	23,904	22,550
Warranty reserve, current portion	9,015	9,368
Current portion of other long-term debt	1,056	1,856
Other	40,929	49,119
Accrued liabilities	170,830	175,974
Other liabilities:
Deferred revenue, long-term portion	7,144	10,097
Deferred rent, long-term portion	8,388	9,758
Warranty reserve, long-term portion	7,126	7,655
Deferred income taxes, long-term portion	562	816
Other liabilities	43,586	48,893
Technology [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	67,687	57,084
Contracts and customer relationships [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	99,733	88,853
Satellite co-location rights [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	8,600	8,600
Trade name [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	5,940	5,680
Other [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	8,742	6,320
Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	853,569	804,794
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(199,388)	(173,958)
Property and equipment, net	654,181	630,836
Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	817,797	781,752
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(407,000)	(360,086)
Property and equipment, net	410,797	421,666
Satellite Performance Incentives Obligation [Member]
Other liabilities:
Satellite performance incentives obligation, long-term portion	20,366	20,567
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	195,385	146,610
Equipment and software [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	479,565	452,197
CPE leased equipment [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	227,563	221,017
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(92,900)	(79,800)
Furniture and fixtures [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	19,837	18,773
Leasehold improvements [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	66,014	62,159
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:
Property and equipment	1,621	1,621
Construction in progress [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	$ 14,274	$ 17,062