Represents the percentage of capital stock held by related party.

No definition available.

Name:	sats_PercentageOfCapitalStockHeldByRelatedParty
Namespace Prefix:	sats_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of owned satellites transferred.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sats_RelatedPartyTransactionsNumberOfOwnedSatellitesTransferred
Namespace Prefix:	sats_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the percentage of economic interest held an entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sats_RelatedPartyTransactionsPercentageOfEconomicInterestHeld
Namespace Prefix:	sats_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Proceeds from issuance of capital stock which provides for a specific dividend that is paid to the shareholders before any dividends to common stockholders and which takes precedence over common stockholders in the event of liquidation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 14
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3255-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Financing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6513228

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProceedsFromIssuanceOfPreferredStockAndPreferenceStock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_TargetedOrTrackingStockStockLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis=sats_SatelliteAndTrackingStockTransactionMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsegmentsAxis=sats_HughesRetailGroupMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=us-gaap_ParentCompanyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=sats_DISHNetworkMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=us-gaap_SubsidiariesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis=sats_PreferredTrackingStockMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=sats_EchoStarAndHughesSatelliteSystemsCorporationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Hughes Retail Preferred Tracking Stock (Details) $ in Millions		1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Mar. 02, 2014 USD ($) satellite	Mar. 31, 2014 satellite	Sep. 30, 2016
Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction \| Hughes Retail Group \| Echostar Corporation
Hughes Retail Group Tracking Stock
Percentage of economic interest held	20.00%
DISH Network \| Echostar Corporation
Hughes Retail Group Tracking Stock
Percentage of capital stock held			6.30%
DISH Network \| Hughes Satellite Systems Corporation (HSSC)
Hughes Retail Group Tracking Stock
Percentage of capital stock held			7.50%
DISH Network \| Hughes Retail Preferred Tracking Stock
Hughes Retail Group Tracking Stock
Percentage of economic interest held			80.00%
DISH Network \| Hughes Retail Group \| Echostar Corporation
Hughes Retail Group Tracking Stock
Percentage of economic interest held			51.89%
DISH Network \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction
Hughes Retail Group Tracking Stock
Proceeds from issuance of Tracking Stock	$ 11.4
DISH Network \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction \| EchoStar and HSSC
Hughes Retail Group Tracking Stock
Number of owned satellites transferred \| satellite	5	5
Proceeds from issuance of Tracking Stock	$ 11.4
DISH Network \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction \| Hughes Retail Group \| Echostar Corporation
Hughes Retail Group Tracking Stock
Percentage of economic interest held	51.89%		51.89%
DISH Network \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction \| Hughes Retail Group \| Hughes Satellite Systems Corporation (HSSC)
Hughes Retail Group Tracking Stock
Percentage of economic interest held	28.11%		28.11%
DISH Network \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction \| Hughes Retail Group \| Hughes Retail Preferred Tracking Stock
Hughes Retail Group Tracking Stock
Percentage of economic interest held	80.00%		80.00%