v3.3.1.900

Related Party Transactions - Tax Sharing and Patent Cross-License Agreements (Details) $ in Thousands | 1 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($) | Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) | Apr. 30, 2011 USD ($) item | Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) | Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) | Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($) | Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($) | Sep. 30, 2013 USD ($) | Jun. 30, 2013 USD ($)
Related party transactions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Net amount of the allocated tax attributes receivable |  | $ 90,241 |  | $ 90,966 | $ 90,241 |  |  |  |
Tax credit charge recorded in additional paid-in capital |  |  |  | 3,048 | 5,269 |  |  |  |
Cash paid for property, plant and equipment |  |  |  | 809,270 | 680,026 | $ 391,873 |  |  |
Charge to additional-paid-in-capital, net of related deferred income taxes due to transfers of assets between companies |  |  |  |  | 9,569 |  |  |  |
Patent Cross-License Agreements |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Related party transactions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Maximum aggregate payments required under cross license agreements |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ 10,000 |  |
Maximum additional aggregate payments required under cross license agreements if options are exercised |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ 3,000 |  |
Personalized Media Communications, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Related party transactions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
One-time payment towards settlement under the agreements | $ 5,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
DISH Network |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Related party transactions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Tax credit charge recorded in additional paid-in capital |  |  |  | $ 3,000 | $ 5,300 |  |  |  |
DISH Network | TiVo vs. Dish Network and Echostar Corporation |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Related party transactions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Settlement amount |  |  | $ 500,000 |  |  |  |  |  |
Initial settlement amount paid |  |  | 300,000 |  |  |  |  |  |
Aggregate of six annual installment amounts between 2012 and 2017 |  |  | $ 200,000 |  |  |  |  |  |
Litigation settlement, number of annual installments | item |  |  | 6 |  |  |  |  |  |
Portion of the $300 million initial settlement agreement payment paid by EchoStar |  |  | $ 10,000 |  |  |  |  |  |
Estimated percentage of annual future payments payable by EchoStar |  |  | 5.00% |  |  |  |  |  |
DISH Network | Tax Sharing Agreement | Other noncurrent assets, net |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Related party transactions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Net amount of the allocated tax attributes receivable |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ 83,200 |
DISH Network | Tax Sharing Agreement | Noncurrent deferred tax liabilities |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Related party transactions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Federal tax benefits reflected as a deferred tax asset for depreciation and amortization |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ 83,200
DISH Network | T2 Development Agreement |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Related party transactions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cash paid for property, plant and equipment |  | 55,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Charge to additional-paid-in-capital, net of related deferred income taxes due to transfers of assets between companies |  | $ 9,600 |  |  |  |  |  |  |

X
- Definition Maximum additional aggregate payments required under cross license agreements if options are exercised. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | sats_AggregateAdditionalPaymentIfOptionToExtendAgreementsIsExercisedLessThan
Namespace Prefix: | sats_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Maximum aggregate payments required under cross license agreements. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | sats_AggregatePaymentUnderAgreementLessThan
Namespace Prefix: | sats_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Represents information about charge recorded in additional paid in capital related utilized tax credit. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | sats_ChargeRecordedInAdditionalPaidInCapitalRelatedTaxCreditUtilized
Namespace Prefix: | sats_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Litigation settlement initial payment. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | sats_LitigationSettlementInitialPayment
Namespace Prefix: | sats_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Litigation settlement number of annual installments. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | sats_LitigationSettlementNumberOfAnnualInstallments
Namespace Prefix: | sats_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Litigation settlement total amount to be paid through six annual installments. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | sats_LitigationSettlementTotalAmountToBePaidThroughSixAnnualInstallments
Namespace Prefix: | sats_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Loss contingency contribution towards settlement agreement. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | sats_LossContingencyContributionTowardsSettlementAgreement
Namespace Prefix: | sats_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Loss contingency estimated percentage of annual payments payable by entity. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | sats_LossContingencyEstimatedPercentageOfAnnualPaymentsPayableByEntity
Namespace Prefix: | sats_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Represents information about option payment to purchase satellite. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | sats_OptionPaymentToPurchaseSatellite
Namespace Prefix: | sats_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Amount of receivables arising from transactions with related parties, due after 1 year (or 1 business cycle). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 850 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39603-107864 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 850 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (d) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39549-107864 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 850 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39622-107864 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(k)(1)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.11) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 08 -Paragraph k -Subparagraph 1 -Article 4 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 02 -Paragraph 3 -Subparagraph a -Article 5 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AccountsReceivableRelatedPartiesNoncurrent
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount before allocation of valuation allowances of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible temporary differences from property, plant, and equipment. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsPropertyPlantAndEquipment
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of judgment or settlement awarded to (against) the entity in respect of litigation. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_LitigationSettlementAmount
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The amount of cash paid for the settlement of litigation or for other legal issues during the period. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 25 -Subparagraph (g) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=31042434&loc=d3e3536-108585 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_PaymentsForLegalSettlements
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale; includes cash outflows to pay for construction of self-constructed assets. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Glossary Investing Activities -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 13 -Subparagraph (c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=31042434&loc=d3e3213-108585 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition 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. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis=sats_PatentCrossLicenseAgreementsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis=sats_PersonalizedMediaCommunicationsIncMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=sats_DISHNetworkMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis=sats_TiVovsDishNetworkAndEchostarCorporationMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis=sats_TaxSharingAgreementMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_OtherNoncurrentAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=sats_NoncurrentDeferredTaxLiabilitiesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis=sats_T2DevelopmentAgreementMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |