Net Income (Loss) Attributable to ORBCOMM Inc. Common Stockholders - Summary of Basic and Diluted Calculations of EPS (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Net income (loss) attributable to ORBCOMM Inc. common stockholders	$ 1,582	$ (33)	$ (13,517)	$ 920
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic number of common shares outstanding	70,460	55,247	70,376	54,561
Dilutive effect of grants of stock options, unvested SARs and RSUs and shares of Series A convertible preferred stock	1,458			1,714
Diluted number of common shares outstanding	71,918	55,247	70,376	56,275
Earnings per share:
Basic	$ 0.02	$ 0.00	$ (0.19)	$ 0.02
Diluted	$ 0.02	$ 0.00	$ (0.19)	$ 0.02