v2.3.0.15

Property and Equipment (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended					3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended						9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended													3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011 Land	Dec. 31, 2010 Land	Sep. 30, 2011 Buildings and improvements	Sep. 30, 2010 Buildings and improvements	Sep. 30, 2011 Buildings and improvements year	Sep. 30, 2010 Buildings and improvements	Dec. 31, 2010 Buildings and improvements	Sep. 30, 2011 Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other	Sep. 30, 2010 Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other	Sep. 30, 2011 Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other year	Sep. 30, 2010 Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other	Dec. 31, 2010 Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other	Sep. 30, 2011 Consumer rental equipment year	Sep. 30, 2011 Satellites	Sep. 30, 2010 Satellites	Sep. 30, 2011 Satellites satellite	Sep. 30, 2010 Satellites	Sep. 30, 2011 EchoStar III - fully depreciated	Dec. 31, 2010 EchoStar III - fully depreciated	Sep. 30, 2011 EchoStar IV - fully depreciated	Dec. 31, 2010 EchoStar IV - fully depreciated	Sep. 30, 2011 EchoStar VI	Dec. 31, 2010 EchoStar VI	Sep. 30, 2011 EchoStar VIII transponder watt	Dec. 31, 2010 EchoStar VIII	Sep. 30, 2011 EchoStar IX	Dec. 31, 2010 EchoStar IX	Sep. 30, 2011 EchoStar XII	Dec. 31, 2010 EchoStar XII	Sep. 30, 2011 SPACEWAY 3	Sep. 30, 2011 Satellites acquired under capital leases year	Dec. 31, 2010 Satellites acquired under capital leases	Sep. 30, 2011 Construction in process	Sep. 30, 2010 Construction in process	Sep. 30, 2011 Construction in process	Sep. 30, 2010 Construction in process	Dec. 31, 2010 Construction in process	Sep. 30, 2011 QuetzSat-1 transponder year satellite	Dec. 31, 2008 QuetzSat-1 year	Dec. 31, 2010 QuetzSat-1	Sep. 30, 2011 EchoStar XVI	Dec. 31, 2010 EchoStar XVI	Sep. 30, 2011 Jupiter	Sep. 30, 2011 Satellite under construction	Dec. 31, 2010 Satellite under construction	Sep. 30, 2011 Construction in process	Dec. 31, 2010 Construction in process	Sep. 30, 2011 Uplink equipment	Dec. 31, 2010 Uplink equipment	Sep. 30, 2011 Construction in process	Dec. 31, 2010 Construction in process	Sep. 30, 2011 Identifiable intangible assets subject to amortization	Sep. 30, 2010 Identifiable intangible assets subject to amortization	Sep. 30, 2011 Identifiable intangible assets subject to amortization	Sep. 30, 2010 Identifiable intangible assets subject to amortization	May 31, 2011 Leased Satellites	Sep. 30, 2011 Leased Satellites transponder	Sep. 30, 2011 AMC-15 year watt	Sep. 30, 2011 AMC-16 year watt
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 4,237,030,000		$ 4,237,030,000		$ 3,029,593,000	$ 41,530,000	$ 28,240,000	$ 309,541,000		$ 309,541,000		$ 232,208,000	$ 920,465,000		$ 920,465,000		$ 791,247,000	$ 142,264,000					$ 234,083,000	$ 234,083,000	$ 78,511,000	$ 78,511,000	$ 244,305,000	$ 244,305,000	$ 175,801,000	$ 175,801,000	$ 127,376,000	$ 127,376,000	$ 190,051,000	$ 190,051,000	$ 286,707,000	$ 566,817,000	$ 534,673,000	$ 919,579,000		$ 919,579,000		$ 393,098,000	$ 180,759,000		$ 162,947,000	$ 209,552,000	$ 100,312,000	$ 338,580,000	$ 75,238,000	$ 93,958,000	$ 35,854,000	$ 19,291,000	$ 58,265,000	$ 11,933,000	$ 21,331,000	$ 4,657,000
Accumulated depreciation	(1,931,957,000)		(1,931,957,000)		(1,766,290,000)
Property and equipment, net	2,305,073,000		2,305,073,000		1,263,303,000
Depreciable Life (in years)																											12		12		12		10		15
Depreciable Life, low end of range (in years)										1					1			2																		10
Depreciable Life, high end of range (in years)										40					10			4																		15
Capitalized interest related to satellites under construction																																						14,000,000	20,000,000	32,000,000	20,000,000
Depreciation and amortization expenses
Depreciation and amortization expense	128,120,000	58,191,000	256,193,000	172,866,000				2,852,000	1,731,000	6,340,000	4,950,000		49,838,000	25,632,000	106,982,000	73,120,000			29,455,000	22,562,000	77,172,000	70,000,000																																			45,975,000	8,266,000	65,699,000	24,796,000
Number of satellites utilized in geostationary orbit approximately 22,300 miles above the equator																					11
Number of satellites utilized under lease																					5
Number of satellites utilized under capital lease																					4
Number of satellites utilized under operating lease																					1
Satellite property and equipment
Satellite service agreement period (in years)																																											10	10																			10	10
Number of DBS transponders available																																											32
Number of DBS transponders leased by DISH Network from EchoStar																																											24
Number of owned satellites under construction																																											2
Watts per channel, option one																													120																																		120	120
Number of FSS transponders, option one																													32																																	24
Number of DBS transponders available, option two																													16
Watts per channel, option two																													240
Reduction in capital lease obligation and corresponding assets value																																																														39,000,000
Decrease in capital lease obligations			$ 7,000,000																																																										$ 7,000,000

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The cumulative amount of depreciation, depletion and amortization (related to property, plant and equipment, but not including land) that has been recognized in the income statement.

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The current period expense charged against earnings on long-lived, physical assets not used in production, and which are not intended for resale, to allocate or recognize the cost of such assets over their useful lives; or to record the reduction in book value of an intangible asset over the benefit period of such asset; or to reflect consumption during the period of an asset that is not used in production.

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Describes the periods of time over which an entity anticipates to receive utility from its property, plant and equipment (that is, the periods of time over which an entity allocates the initial cost of its property, plant and equipment).

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Gross amount, at the balance sheet date, of long-lived physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. This can include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software.

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Tangible assets that are held by an entity for use in the production or supply of goods and services, for rental to others, or for administrative purposes and that are expected to provide economic benefit for more than one year; net of accumulated depreciation. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software.

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The maximum useful life of long-lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software.

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