Property and Equipment (Details 2) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Property and equipment
Construction in progress	$ 300,642	$ 260,220
Progress amounts for satellite construction, including prepayments under capital leases and launch services costs
Property and equipment
Construction in progress	232,599	211,765
Satellite related equipment
Property and equipment
Construction in progress	34,948	28,358
Other
Property and equipment
Construction in progress	$ 33,095	$ 20,097

Amount of structure or a modification to a structure under construction. Includes recently completed structures or modifications to structures that have not been placed into service.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-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

Name:	us-gaap_ConstructionInProgressGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant