Net (loss) Income Attributable to ORBCOMM Inc. Common Stockholders - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding	53,213,000	48,143,000
Series A Convertible Preferred Stock [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding		1,306,344

The average number of shares or units issued and outstanding that are used in calculating diluted EPS or earnings per unit (EPU), determined based on the timing of issuance of shares or units in the period.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 260

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6371337&loc=d3e3550-109257

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 260

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 16

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=7655603&loc=d3e1505-109256

Name:	us-gaap_WeightedAverageNumberOfDilutedSharesOutstanding
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration