Property and Equipment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 6,074,713	$ 6,126,600
Accumulated depreciation	(2,678,097)	(2,661,129)
Property and equipment, net	3,396,616	3,465,471
Land
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	33,641	33,713
Buildings and improvements
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 184,932	185,148
Buildings and improvements \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	1 year
Buildings and improvements \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	40 years
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 758,588	736,533
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	1 year
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	12 years
Customer rental equipment
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 1,032,591	929,775
Customer rental equipment \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	2 years
Customer rental equipment \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	4 years
Satellites - owned
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 2,816,628	3,064,391
Satellites - owned \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	2 years
Satellites - owned \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	15 years
Satellites - acquired under capital leases
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 899,310	916,820
Satellites - acquired under capital leases \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	10 years
Satellites - acquired under capital leases \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	15 years
Construction in progress
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 349,023	$ 260,220

Amount of accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization for physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
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Amount before accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(13))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
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-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(14))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-Section S99
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Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

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