Property and Equipment (Details 5) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 SPACEWAY 3	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar XVII	Dec. 31, 2011 EchoStar XVII	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar III - fully depreciated item	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar VI item	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar VI item	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar VIII item	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar IX	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar XII item	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar XVI	Dec. 31, 2011 EchoStar XVI	Dec. 31, 2012 AMC-15 item	Dec. 31, 2011 AMC-15	Dec. 31, 2012 AMC-16 item	Dec. 31, 2011 AMC-16	Dec. 31, 2010 AMC-16	Dec. 31, 2012 Nimiq 5	Dec. 31, 2012 QuetzSat-1	Dec. 31, 2011 CMBStar
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life					12 years	15 years		12 years		12 years	12 years	12 years	10 years	15 years		10 years		10 years			15 years	10 years
Estimated fair value	$ 455,186,000	$ 716,486,000	$ 455,186,000	$ 716,486,000			$ 365,721,000							$ 345,090,000	$ 232,364,000								$ 19,000,000
Loss of TWTAs									2
Total number of TWTAs lost on the satellite									5
Number of transponders, option one								32			32		13			24		24
Watts per channel, option one								120			120		270			120		120
Number of transponders available, option two								16			16
Watts per channel, option two								230			240		135
Number of traveling wave tubes								44		48
Number of transponders available for use								8
Watts per channel, option three													65
Gain recognized due to decrease in capital lease obligation																		13,000,000	7,000,000
Reduction in asset's carrying amount due to reduction in capital lease obligation																	20,000,000			39,000,000
Decrease in capital lease obligations																	20,000,000	13,000,000	7,000,000	39,000,000
Impairment charge	$ 33,000,000	$ 33,000,000	$ 32,765,000	$ 32,964,000																			$ 32,964,000
Number of spot beams													22			12		12