Marketable Investment Securities - Fair Value of Investment Securities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Fair value of marketable securities
Total debt securities	$ 750,218	$ 904,022
Fair value option - corporate bonds	12,181	9,128
Total debt securities	762,399	913,150
Equity securities	29,673	35,566
Total marketable investment securities, including restricted amounts	792,072	948,716
Less: Restricted marketable investment securities	(1,711)	(8,093)
Total marketable investment securities	790,361	940,623
Corporate bonds
Fair value of marketable securities
Total debt securities	446,515	568,442
Other debt securities
Fair value of marketable securities
Total debt securities	303,703	335,580
Level 1
Fair value of marketable securities
Total debt securities	1,711	8,093
Fair value option - corporate bonds	0	0
Total debt securities	1,711	8,093
Equity securities	23,090	27,933
Total marketable investment securities, including restricted amounts	24,801	36,026
Less: Restricted marketable investment securities	(1,711)	(8,093)
Total marketable investment securities	23,090	27,933
Level 1 \| Corporate bonds
Fair value of marketable securities
Total debt securities	0	0
Level 1 \| Other debt securities
Fair value of marketable securities
Total debt securities	1,711	8,093
Level 2
Fair value of marketable securities
Total debt securities	748,507	895,929
Fair value option - corporate bonds	12,181	9,128
Total debt securities	760,688	905,057
Equity securities	6,583	7,633
Total marketable investment securities, including restricted amounts	767,271	912,690
Less: Restricted marketable investment securities	0	0
Total marketable investment securities	767,271	912,690
Level 2 \| Corporate bonds
Fair value of marketable securities
Total debt securities	446,515	568,442
Level 2 \| Other debt securities
Fair value of marketable securities
Total debt securities	$ 301,992	$ 327,487

Debt Securities, Available-for-sale, Fair Value Option

No definition available.

Name:	sats_DebtSecuritiesAvailableforsaleFairValueOption
Namespace Prefix:	sats_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Debt Securities, Available-for-sale, Including Fair Value Option

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sats_DebtSecuritiesAvailableforsaleIncludingFairValueOption
Namespace Prefix:	sats_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118942338&loc=SL82898722-210454

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118954083&loc=d3e26610-111562

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (aa)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27161-111563

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of restricted investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 860
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1A
-Subparagraph (b)(1)(i)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109249958&loc=SL6224234-111729

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of investment in equity security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in net income (FV-NI).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 825
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1A
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99377092&loc=SL75136599-209740

+ Details

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

- Definition

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.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueAssetsAndLiabilitiesMeasuredOnRecurringAndNonrecurringBasisLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of investment in marketable security.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.4)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of investment in marketable security, classified as current.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (f)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118951113&loc=d3e6676-107765

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_CorporateBondSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_OtherDebtSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueByFairValueHierarchyLevelAxis=us-gaap_FairValueInputsLevel1Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueByFairValueHierarchyLevelAxis=us-gaap_FairValueInputsLevel2Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: