Acquisitions - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands			3 Months Ended
	Oct. 02, 2017	Jun. 09, 2017	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Accrued liabilities			$ 43,329	$ 33,016
Inthinc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition effective date		Jun. 09, 2017
Cash consideration paid		$ 34,236
Number of common stock shares issued for consideration		76,796
Common stock issued, per share		$ 9.95
Total consideration of preliminary purchase price		$ 44,835
Acquisition-related contingent consideration at fair value		$ 9,835
Increase (decrease) in goodwill			151
Portion of contingent consideration in other non-current liabilities			7,758	9,313
Number of trading days for average closing price		20 days
Additional product liabilities obligations assumed through acquisition		$ 1,032
Accrued liabilities			832
Reduction in fair value of earn-outs amounts			1,555
Inthinc [Member] | Indemnification Asset [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Amount deposited in escrow to fund any indemnification obligations			500
Inthinc [Member] | Customer Lists and Technology [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Discount rate to reflect risk characteristics of intangible assets		12.00%
Inthinc [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent consideration payable		$ 25,000
ORBCOMM Technology Ireland Limited [Member] | Blue Tree Systems Limited [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition effective date	Oct. 02, 2017
Outstanding equity percentage	100.00%
Cash consideration paid	$ 34,331
Number of common stock shares issued for consideration	191,022
Common stock issued, per share	$ 10.47
Number of business day prior to closing date	1 day
Total consideration of preliminary purchase price	$ 37,107
Acquisition-related contingent consideration at fair value	$ 776
Increase (decrease) in goodwill			393
Portion of contingent consideration in other non-current liabilities			823	$ 776
Contingent consideration accretion recorded in selling, general and administrative expenses			47
ORBCOMM Technology Ireland Limited [Member] | Blue Tree Systems Limited [Member] | Indemnification Asset [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Amount deposited in escrow to fund any indemnification obligations			$ 3,675
ORBCOMM Technology Ireland Limited [Member] | Blue Tree Systems Limited [Member] | Customer Lists and Technology [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Discount rate to reflect risk characteristics of intangible assets	26.50%
ORBCOMM Technology Ireland Limited [Member] | Blue Tree Systems Limited [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent consideration payable	$ 5,750