Supplemental Financial Information (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Schedule of Noncash Investing and Financing Activities

	For the nine months ended September 30
	2018		2017
	(in thousands)
Employee benefits paid in Class A common stock	$	7,605	$	11,200
Property and equipment financed under capital lease obligations	$	187	$	8,423
Increase (decrease) in capital expenditures included in accounts payable, net	$	17,058	$	(3,494	)
Capitalized in-orbit incentive obligations	$	—	$	43,890
Noncash net assets exchanged for Tracking Stock (Note 1)	$	—	$	299,425

Schedule of Cost of Sales and Research and Development Costs [Table Text Block]

	For the three months ended September 30,				For the nine months ended September 30,
	2018		2017		2018		2017
	(In thousands)
Cost of sales	$	5,555	$	7,038	$	18,443	$	20,724
Research and development	$	6,544	$	8,302	$	20,328	$	23,444