The value (monetary amount) of the attorney's fees the plaintiff seeks in the legal matter.

No definition available.

Name:	sats_LossContingencyAttorneysFeesSoughtValue
Namespace Prefix:	sats_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of invalidated claims pertaining to a loss contingency.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sats_LossContingencyInvalidatedClaimsNumber
Namespace Prefix:	sats_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Loss Contingency, Pending Claims, Validity Not Challenged

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sats_LossContingencyPendingClaimsValidityNotChallenged
Namespace Prefix:	sats_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
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_LossContingenciesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of loss contingency liability.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyAccrualAtCarryingValue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of damages awarded to the plaintiff in the legal matter.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82911808&loc=d3e14326-108349

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82911808&loc=d3e14435-108349

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82911808&loc=d3e14557-108349

+ Details

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

- Definition

Number of another entity's patents that the entity has allegedly infringed.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyPatentsAllegedlyInfringedNumber
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of pending claims pertaining to a loss contingency.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82911808&loc=d3e14435-108349

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis=sats_ElbitMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis=sats_RealtimeDataLLCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=sats_Patent867Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=sats_Patent728Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Commitments and Contingencies (Details 2) $ in Millions			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
Commitments and Contingencies (Details 2) $ in Millions	Aug. 07, 2017 USD ($)	Feb. 14, 2017 claim patent	Nov. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($) claim
Subsidiaries \| HNS \| Elbit
Commitment and Contingencies
Loss Contingency, Damages Awarded, Value \| $	$ 21.1		$ 28.5
Loss Contingency, Attorney's Fees Sought, Value \| $				$ 13.9
Loss Contingency Accrual \| $				$ 2.8
Echo Star Corporation [Member] \| HNS \| Realtime Data LLC
Commitment and Contingencies
Loss Contingency, Invalidated Claims, Number				2
Loss Contingency, Pending Claims, Number				4
Loss Contingency, Patents Allegedly Infringed, Number \| patent		4
Patent 867 [Member] \| Realtime Data LLC
Commitment and Contingencies
Loss Contingency, Pending Claims, Validity Not Challenged		1
Patent 728 [Member] \| Realtime Data LLC
Commitment and Contingencies
Loss Contingency, Pending Claims, Validity Not Challenged		1