Business combination, ownership percentage acquired by related party.

No definition available.

Name:	sats_BusinessCombinationOwnershipPercentageAcquiredByRelatedParty
Namespace Prefix:	sats_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- 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

Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
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=98514028&loc=d3e3255-108585

+ 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_RelatedPartyTransactionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=sats_EchoStarTechnologiesBusinessMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

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

Organization and Business Activities (Details) $ in Millions		12 Months Ended
	Mar. 02, 2014 USD ($) satellite	Dec. 31, 2017 segment	Jan. 31, 2017
Principal Business
Number of business segments \| segment		2
DISH Network \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction
Principal Business
Proceeds from Issuance of Preferred Stock and Preference Stock \| $	$ 11.4
Hughes Retail Group \| DISH Network \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction \| Hughes Retail Preferred Tracking Stock
Principal Business
Percentage of economic interest held	80.00%
EchoStar Technologies segment \| DISH Network \| Share Exchange Agreement
Principal Business
Ownership interest acquired by related party (as a percent)			100.00%
EchoStar Corporation \| Hughes Retail Group \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction
Principal Business
Percentage of economic interest held	20.00%
EchoStar Corporation \| Hughes Retail Group \| DISH Network \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction
Principal Business
Percentage of economic interest held	51.89%
Hughes Satellite Systems Corporation (HSSC) \| Hughes Retail Group \| DISH Network \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction
Principal Business
Percentage of economic interest held	28.11%
EchoStar and HSSC \| DISH Network \| Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction
Principal Business
Related Party Transactions Number of Owned Satellites Transferred \| satellite	5