Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 30, 2012 Y	Apr. 01, 2011
Accounts receivable, net:
Account receivable, Billed	$ 108,758	$ 100,863
Account receivable, Unbilled	103,929	91,519
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(997)	(493)
Accounts receivable, net	211,690	191,889
Inventories:
Raw materials	46,208	46,651
Work in process	23,932	18,713
Finished goods	57,506	33,191
Inventories, net	127,646	98,555
Prepaid expenses and other current assets:
Prepaid expenses	25,103	18,235
Income tax receivable	21	26
Other	5,793	2,880
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	30,917	21,141
Satellites, net:
Capital lease of satellite capacity - Anik F2 (estimated useful life of 10 years)	99,090	99,090
Satellite - ViaSat-1 (under construction)		276,418
Satellites gross	657,957	571,398
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(72,226)	(38,398)
Satellites, net	585,731	533,000
Property and equipment, net:
Machinery and equipment (estimated useful life of 2-5 years)	195,975	122,113
Computer equipment and software (estimated useful life of 2-7 years)	127,596	66,768
CPE leased equipment (estimated useful life of 3-5 years)	85,271	61,610
Furniture and fixtures (estimated useful life of 7 years)	14,093	13,053
Leasehold improvements (estimated useful life of 2-17 years)	51,205	24,550
Building (estimated useful life of 24 years)	8,923	8,923
Land	4,384	4,384
Construction in progress	16,570	80,976
Property and equipment gross, total	504,017	382,377
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(209,044)	(149,238)
Property equipment, net	294,973	233,139
Other assets:
Capitalized software costs, net	41,992	24,472
Patents, orbital slots and other licenses, net	11,194	8,639
Deferred income taxes	53,602	47,017
Other	30,007	23,180
Other assets, net	136,795	103,308
Accrued liabilities:
Collections in excess of revenues and deferred revenues	88,114	61,916
Accrued employee compensation	21,384	18,804
Accrued vacation	17,573	15,600
Warranty reserve, current portion	6,238	8,014
Other	26,453	26,249
Accrued liabilities	159,762	130,583
Other liabilities:
Deferred revenue, long-term portion	11,414	6,960
Deferred rent, long-term portion	8,237	6,267
Warranty reserve, long-term portion	5,413	4,928
Deferred income taxes, long-term portion	3,073	3,374
Unrecognized tax position liabilities	1,306	2,217
Satellite performance incentives obligation and other liabilities, long-term portion	20,910	96
Other liabilities	50,353	23,842
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textual) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life minimum (years)	2
Property and equipment estimated useful life maximum (years)	24
Machinery and Equipment [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textual) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life minimum (years)	2
Property and equipment estimated useful life maximum (years)	5
Computer equipment and software [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textual) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life minimum (years)	2
Property and equipment estimated useful life maximum (years)	7
CPE Leased Equipment [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(33,100)	(19,200)
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textual) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life minimum (years)	3
Property and equipment estimated useful life maximum (years)	5
Furniture and Fixtures [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textual) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life average (years)	7
Leasehold Improvements [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textual) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life minimum (years)	2
Property and equipment estimated useful life maximum (years)	17
Building [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textual) [Abstract]
Property and equipment estimated useful life average (years)	24
Capital lease of satellite capacity Anik F2 [Member]
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textual) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life (years)	10 years
Satellite WildBlue-1 [Member]
Satellites, net:
Satellite	195,890	195,890
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textual) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life (years)	10 years
Satellite - ViaSat-1 [Member]
Satellites, net:
Satellite	$ 362,977
Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Textual) [Abstract]
Property, equipment and satellites, estimated useful life (years)	17 years