Financial Statements of Parent and Subsidiary Guarantors (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Dec. 30, 2011	Apr. 01, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Apr. 02, 2010
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 45,842	$ 40,490	$ 45,364	$ 89,631
Accounts receivable, net	184,299	191,889
Inventories	129,763	98,555
Deferred income taxes	18,581	18,805
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	51,411	21,141
Total current assets	429,896	370,880
Satellites, net	597,236	533,000
Property and equipment, net	275,598	233,139
Other acquired intangible assets, net	67,226	81,889
Goodwill	83,151	83,532
Investments in subsidiaries and intercompany receivables	0	0
Other assets	126,556	103,308
Total assets	1,579,663	1,405,748
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	62,880	71,712
Accrued liabilities	139,360	130,583
Current portion of other long-term debt	1,226	1,128
Total current liabilities	203,466	203,423
Senior Notes due 2016, net	272,667	272,296
Other long-term debt	171,089	61,946
Intercompany payables	0	0
Other liabilities	45,242	23,842
Total liabilities	692,464	561,507
ViaSat, Inc. stockholders' equity
Total ViaSat, Inc. stockholders' equity	883,076	840,125
Noncontrolling interest in subsidiary	4,123	4,116
Total equity	887,199	844,241
Total liabilities and equity	1,579,663	1,405,748
Issuing Parent Company [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	38,218	24,347	27,719	66,258
Accounts receivable, net	167,431	171,183
Inventories	108,859	88,542
Deferred income taxes	16,696	16,428
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	23,637	15,236
Total current assets	354,841	315,736
Satellites, net	362,711	276,418
Property and equipment, net	173,070	122,945
Other acquired intangible assets, net	3,292	6,201
Goodwill	63,939	63,939
Investments in subsidiaries and intercompany receivables	452,910	490,288
Other assets	108,426	89,834
Total assets	1,519,189	1,365,361
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	54,227	62,465
Accrued liabilities	92,571	100,749
Current portion of other long-term debt	128	116
Total current liabilities	146,926	163,330
Senior Notes due 2016, net	272,667	272,296
Other long-term debt	170,107	60,203
Intercompany payables	9,937	14,606
Other liabilities	36,476	16,464
Total liabilities	636,113	526,899
ViaSat, Inc. stockholders' equity
Total ViaSat, Inc. stockholders' equity	883,076	838,462
Noncontrolling interest in subsidiary	0	0
Total equity	883,076	838,462
Total liabilities and equity	1,519,189	1,365,361
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	175	7,600	8,778	16,216
Accounts receivable, net	9,291	10,644
Inventories	14,533	7,484
Deferred income taxes	1,723	1,723
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	27,017	4,745
Total current assets	52,739	32,196
Satellites, net	234,525	256,582
Property and equipment, net	96,908	103,410
Other acquired intangible assets, net	55,627	65,341
Goodwill	9,687	9,686
Investments in subsidiaries and intercompany receivables	2,363	2,246
Other assets	17,534	12,922
Total assets	469,383	482,383
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	7,814	8,164
Accrued liabilities	43,214	25,691
Current portion of other long-term debt	1,098	1,012
Total current liabilities	52,126	34,867
Senior Notes due 2016, net	0	0
Other long-term debt	982	1,743
Intercompany payables	0	0
Other liabilities	6,249	4,321
Total liabilities	59,357	40,931
ViaSat, Inc. stockholders' equity
Total ViaSat, Inc. stockholders' equity	410,026	441,452
Noncontrolling interest in subsidiary	0	0
Total equity	410,026	441,452
Total liabilities and equity	469,383	482,383
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	7,449	8,543	8,867	7,157
Accounts receivable, net	7,577	10,062
Inventories	6,371	2,932
Deferred income taxes	162	162
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	757	1,160
Total current assets	22,316	22,859
Satellites, net	0	0
Property and equipment, net	5,620	7,785
Other acquired intangible assets, net	8,307	10,347
Goodwill	9,525	9,907
Investments in subsidiaries and intercompany receivables	654	404
Other assets	596	552
Total assets	47,018	51,854
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	839	1,083
Accrued liabilities	3,575	4,143
Current portion of other long-term debt	0	0
Total current liabilities	4,414	5,226
Senior Notes due 2016, net	0	0
Other long-term debt	0	0
Intercompany payables	10,446	11,945
Other liabilities	2,517	3,057
Total liabilities	17,377	20,228
ViaSat, Inc. stockholders' equity
Total ViaSat, Inc. stockholders' equity	29,641	31,626
Noncontrolling interest in subsidiary	0	0
Total equity	29,641	31,626
Total liabilities and equity	47,018	51,854
Consolidation and Elimination Adjustments [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories	0	(403)
Deferred income taxes	0	492
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	89
Satellites, net	0	0
Property and equipment, net	0	(1,001)
Other acquired intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Investments in subsidiaries and intercompany receivables	(455,927)	(492,938)
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(455,927)	(493,850)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Current portion of other long-term debt	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Senior Notes due 2016, net	0	0
Other long-term debt	0	0
Intercompany payables	(20,383)	(26,551)
Other liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	(20,383)	(26,551)
ViaSat, Inc. stockholders' equity
Total ViaSat, Inc. stockholders' equity	(439,667)	(471,415)
Noncontrolling interest in subsidiary	4,123	4,116
Total equity	(435,544)	(467,299)
Total liabilities and equity	$ (455,927)	$ (493,850)