Amount of accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization for physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.14)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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- 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://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56944662&loc=d3e3602-108585

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- Definition

Amount before accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.13)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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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.

+ References

No definition available.

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Amount after accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.13)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph a
-Article 5

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 03
-Paragraph 8
-Article 7

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- Definition

Useful life of long lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Examples include, but not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment.

+ References

No definition available.

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Property and Equipment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		15 Months Ended
Property and Equipment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 3,286.2		$ 3,286.2	$ 3,259.6
Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(1,242.6)		(1,242.6)	(1,179.4)
Property and equipment, net	2,043.6		2,043.6	2,080.2
Depreciation expense	68.7	$ 64.7
Satellites
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	1,797.7		1,797.7	1,797.7
Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(816.8)		(816.8)	(777.4)
Property and equipment, net	980.9		$ 980.9	1,020.3
Satellites \| Minimum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			9 years
Satellites \| Maximum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			13 years
GeoEye-1 Satellite
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			9 years
Total property and equipment	211.8		$ 211.8	211.8
Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(134.2)		(134.2)	(123.6)
Property and equipment, net	77.6		$ 77.6	88.2
WorldView-1 Satellite
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			13 years
Total property and equipment	473.2		$ 473.2	473.2
Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(350.1)		(350.1)	(343.4)
Property and equipment, net	123.1		$ 123.1	129.8
WorldView-2 Satellite
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			13 years
Total property and equipment	463.2		$ 463.2	463.2
Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(247.8)		(247.8)	(239.8)
Property and equipment, net	215.4		$ 215.4	223.4
WorldView-3 Satellite
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			11 years 6 months
Total property and equipment	649.5		$ 649.5	649.5
Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(84.7)		(84.7)	(70.6)
Property and equipment, net	564.8		564.8	578.9
Construction in progress
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	836.5		836.5	815.3
Computer equipment and software
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	481.2		$ 481.2	470.5
Computer equipment and software \| Minimum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			3 years
Computer equipment and software \| Maximum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			12 years
Machinery and equipment, including ground terminals
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			5 years
Total property and equipment	105.3		$ 105.3	110.6
Furniture, fixtures and other
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	58.9		$ 58.9	58.9
Furniture, fixtures and other \| Minimum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			3 years
Furniture, fixtures and other \| Maximum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			7 years
Land and buildings
Property and Equipment
Depreciable Life			34 years
Total property and equipment	$ 6.6		$ 6.6	$ 6.6