Supplemental Financial Information

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Supplemental Financial Information

SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Noncash Investing and Financing Activities

	For the years ended December 31,
	2018		2017			2016
	(In thousands)
Employee benefits paid in Class A common stock	$	7,605	$	11,200		$	11,126
Property and equipment financed under capital lease obligations	$	364	$	8,484		$	7,652
Increase (decrease) in capital expenditures included in accounts payable, net	$	7,318	$	(3,831	)	$	3,054
E	$	—	$	43,890		$	—
Noncash net assets exchanged for Tracking Stock (Note 1)	$	—	$	299,888		$	—

Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents

The beginning and ending balances of cash and cash equivalents presented in our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows included restricted cash and cash equivalents of $1 million and $1 million, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2018, and $1 million and $1 million, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2017. These amounts are included in Other noncurrent assets, net in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Foreign Currency

We recognized net foreign currency transaction losses of $16 million, gains of $1 million and losses of $0.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Fair Value of In-Orbit Incentives

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the fair values of our in-orbit incentive obligations, based on measurements categorized within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, approximated their carrying amounts of $107 million and $112 million, respectively.

Contract Acquisition and Fulfillment Costs

Unamortized contract acquisition costs totaled $104 million as of December 31, 2018 and related amortization expense totaled $83 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, respectively.

Unamortized contract fulfillment costs totaled $3 million as of December 31, 2018 and related amortization expense was de minimis for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Research and Development

The table below summarizes the research and development costs incurred in connection with customers’ orders included in cost of sales and other expenses we incurred for research and development.

	For the years ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
	(In thousands)
Cost of sales	$	23,422	$	27,899	$	23,663
Research and development	$	27,570	$	31,745	$	31,170

Capitalized Software Costs

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the net carrying amount of externally marketed software was $97 million and $88 million, respectively, of which $29 million and $20 million, respectively, is under development and not yet placed in service. We capitalized costs related to the development of externally marketed software of $32 million, $31 million and $23 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. We recorded amortization expense relating to the development of externally marketed software of $23 million, $20 million and $10 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The weighted average useful life of our externally marketed software was approximately three years as of December 31, 2018.

Advertising Costs

We incurred advertising expense of $76 million, $64 million and $44 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.