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.

No definition available.

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Amount of lease income from operating, direct financing, and sales-type leases. Includes, but is not limited to, variable lease payments, interest income, profit (loss) recognized at commencement, and lease payments paid and payable to lessor.

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Amount, excluding tax collected from customer, of revenue from satisfaction of performance obligation by transferring promised good or service to customer. Tax collected from customer is tax assessed by governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transaction, including, but not limited to, sales, use, value added and excise.

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Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss).

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Segment Reporting Disaggregation of Revenue (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	$ 402,482		$ 1,151,035
Leasing income	130,471		409,667
Total revenue	532,953	$ 481,233	1,560,702	$ 1,379,460
Equipment
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	56,846		150,134
Services
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	329,012		954,225
Design, development and construction services
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	16,624		46,676
Hughes Business
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Total revenue	444,762	379,702	1,271,527	1,070,715
Hughes Business \| Operating segments
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	394,431		1,125,781
Leasing income	50,331		146,105
Total revenue	444,762	380,061	1,271,886	1,072,143
Hughes Business \| Operating segments \| Equipment
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	56,846		150,134
Hughes Business \| Operating segments \| Services
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	320,961		928,971
Hughes Business \| Operating segments \| Design, development and construction services
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	16,624		46,676
ESS Business
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Total revenue	83,482	96,743	274,609	294,839
ESS Business \| Operating segments
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	6,669		20,962
Leasing income	77,338		255,223
Total revenue	84,007	97,093	276,185	295,785
ESS Business \| Operating segments \| Equipment
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	0		0
ESS Business \| Operating segments \| Services
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	6,669		20,962
ESS Business \| Operating segments \| Design, development and construction services
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	0		0
Corporate and Other
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Total revenue	4,709	4,788	14,566	13,906
Corporate and Other \| Corporate and Other
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	1,382		4,292
Leasing income	2,802		8,339
Total revenue	4,184	$ 4,079	12,631	$ 11,532
Corporate and Other \| Corporate and Other \| Equipment
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	0		0
Corporate and Other \| Corporate and Other \| Services
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	1,382		4,292
Corporate and Other \| Corporate and Other \| Design, development and construction services
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue from sales and services	$ 0		$ 0