Acquisitions - Summary of Useful Lives of Customer Relationships Based on Customer Attrition (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands			12 Months Ended
	Oct. 02, 2017	Jun. 09, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated Useful Life (years)			10 years 6 months
Customer Lists [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated Useful Life (years)			10 years 10 months 24 days
Blue Tree Systems Limited [Member] | ORBCOMM Technology Ireland Limited [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total intangible assets	$ 12,020
Blue Tree Systems Limited [Member] | Customer Lists [Member] | ORBCOMM Technology Ireland Limited [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated Useful Life (years)	10 years
Total intangible assets	$ 9,200
Blue Tree Systems Limited [Member] | Technology [Member] | ORBCOMM Technology Ireland Limited [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated Useful Life (years)	10 years
Total intangible assets	$ 2,700
Blue Tree Systems Limited [Member] | Tradename [Member] | ORBCOMM Technology Ireland Limited [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated Useful Life (years)	1 year
Total intangible assets	$ 120
Inthinc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total intangible assets		$ 16,000
Inthinc [Member] | Customer Lists [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated Useful Life (years)		15 years
Total intangible assets		$ 12,400
Inthinc [Member] | Technology [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Estimated Useful Life (years)		10 years
Total intangible assets		$ 3,600