Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions - Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2020	Mar. 31, 2020
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable, Billed	$ 185,907	$ 260,431
Accounts receivable, Unbilled	72,135	75,661
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(8,461)	(5,394)
Accounts receivable, net	249,581	330,698
Inventories:
Raw materials	89,799	83,353
Work in process	66,586	59,429
Finished goods	176,542	151,634
Inventories	332,927	294,416
Prepaid expenses and other current assets:
Prepaid expenses	83,094	84,872
Other	25,084	31,409
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	108,178	116,281
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	4,498,958	4,101,634
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(1,650,318)	(1,514,899)
Property and equipment, net	2,848,640	2,586,735
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	214,849	213,281
Less: accumulated amortization	(202,819)	(198,842)
Other acquired intangible assets, net	12,030	14,439
Other assets:
Investment in unconsolidated affiliate	162,168	160,204
Deferred income taxes	287,384	276,331
Capitalized software costs, net	243,195	242,741
Patents, orbital slots and other licenses, net	47,601	39,135
Other	99,724	88,941
Other assets	840,072	807,352
Accrued and other liabilities:
Collections in excess of revenues and deferred revenues	169,612	123,019
Accrued employee compensation	45,756	72,654
Accrued vacation	54,206	48,963
Warranty reserve, current portion	6,528	6,233
Operating lease liabilities	$ 48,319	$ 42,146
Operating Lease, Liability, Current, Statement of Financial Position [Extensible List]	vsat:AccruedAndOtherLiabilitiesCurrent	vsat:AccruedAndOtherLiabilitiesCurrent
Other	$ 98,597	$ 98,175
Accrued and other liabilities	423,018	391,190
Other liabilities:
Deferred revenues, long-term portion	84,923	80,802
Warranty reserve, long-term portion	5,991	5,410
Satellite performance incentive obligations, long-term portion	23,805	24,349
Other	28,641	10,373
Other liabilities	143,360	120,934
Technology [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	90,481	89,228
Contracts and Customer Relationships [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	103,417	103,114
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	6,411	6,399
Satellites [Member]
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	969,952	969,952
Satellites under Construction [Member]
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	1,145,890	906,720
Equipment and Software [Member]
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	1,392,503	1,229,926
CPE Leased Equipment [Member]
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	408,732	399,343
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(179,100)	(165,700)
Satellite Ka-band Capacity Obtained under Finance Leases [Member]
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	171,603	171,801
Furniture and Fixtures [Member]
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	56,002	54,688
Leasehold Improvements [Member]
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	147,752	137,287
Building [Member]
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	8,923	8,923
Land [Member]
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	2,291	2,291
Construction in Progress [Member]
Property, equipment and satellites, net:
Property, equipment and satellites, gross	$ 195,310	$ 220,703