Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions - Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2015	Apr. 03, 2015
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable, Billed	$ 140,396	$ 120,345
Accounts receivable, Unbilled	165,296	147,049
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(1,175)	(1,055)
Accounts receivable, net	304,517	266,339
Inventories:
Raw materials	46,863	42,716
Work in process	26,317	22,957
Finished goods	50,162	62,694
Inventories	123,342	128,367
Prepaid expenses and other current assets:
Prepaid expenses	44,748	40,106
Other	3,094	4,596
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	47,842	44,702
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	198,163	190,221
Less: accumulated amortization	(157,473)	(147,881)
Other acquired intangible assets, net	40,690	42,340
Other assets:
Capitalized software costs, net	139,485	119,936
Patents, orbital slots and other licenses, net	16,900	16,900
Deferred income taxes	63,896	75,789
Other	56,625	57,183
Other assets	276,906	269,808
Accrued liabilities:
Collections in excess of revenues and deferred revenues	71,110	83,528
Accrued employee compensation	19,735	27,953
Accrued vacation	26,742	25,859
Warranty reserve, current portion	8,727	9,235
Current portion of other long-term debt	267	260
Other	45,389	44,491
Accrued liabilities	171,970	191,326
Other liabilities:
Deferred revenue, long-term portion	4,746	4,894
Deferred rent, long-term portion	7,890	8,307
Warranty reserve, long-term portion	4,254	6,310
Deferred income taxes, long-term portion		363
Other liabilities	37,227	39,995
Technology [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	75,298	67,403
Contracts and customer relationships [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	99,599	99,556
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	5,940
Other [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	8,726	8,722
Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	1,049,801	987,041
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(250,042)	(224,820)
Property and equipment, net	799,759	762,221
Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	942,215	878,550
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(515,264)	(460,528)
Property and equipment, net	426,951	418,022
Other Long-Term Liability [Member]
Other liabilities:
Other long-term portion	500
Satellite Performance Incentives Obligation [Member]
Other liabilities:
Other long-term portion	19,837	20,121
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
Construction in progress [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	391,617	328,857
Construction in progress [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	37,338	17,890
Equipment and software [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	543,859	511,717
CPE leased equipment [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	256,027	250,281
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(122,300)	(107,800)
Furniture and fixtures [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	23,546	20,395
Leasehold improvements [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	69,963	67,723
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	$ 2,559	$ 1,621