v3.20.2

Revenue Recognition - Depreciation Expense (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2020	Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2020	Jun. 30, 2019
Customer premises equipment
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Total depreciation expense	$ 54,845	$ 46,839	$ 100,566	$ 92,651
Satellites
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Total depreciation expense	1,743	1,738	3,487	3,475
Real estate
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Total depreciation expense	233	558	465	1,116
Total Assets Leased to Others
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Total depreciation expense	$ 56,821	$ 49,135	$ 104,518	$ 97,242

X

- Definition

The amount of expense recognized in the current period that reflects the allocation of the cost of tangible assets over the assets' useful lives. Includes production and non-production related depreciation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121586364&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
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

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

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X

- Details

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X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=sats_AssetsLeasedToOthersRealEstateMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
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Period Type:

X

- Details

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