Earnings per Share (Details 2) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
Net income attributable to EchoStar
Net income (loss) from continuing operations	$ 16,052	$ 35,323	$ 71,723	$ 74,079
Net income from discontinued operations	0	(654)	0	6,454
Net income attributable to EchoStar Corporation common stock	$ 16,052	$ 34,669	$ 71,723	$ 80,533
Weighted-average common shares outstanding - Class A and B common stock:
Basic (in shares)	96,166	95,656	96,049	95,316
Dilutive impact of stock awards outstanding (in shares)	714	1,234	922	1,310
Diluted (in shares)	96,880	96,890	96,971	96,626
Earnings Per Share, Basic [Abstract]
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.17	$ 0.37	$ 0.75	$ 0.78
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0	(0.01)	0	0.06
Total basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	0.17	0.36	0.75	0.84
Earnings Per Share, Diluted [Abstract]
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	0.17	0.36	0.74	0.77
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0	0	0	0.06
Total diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.17	$ 0.36	$ 0.74	$ 0.83