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           Interest Costs 
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           Jun. 30, 2011 
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| Interest Costs [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest Costs | 
   
    
(7) Interest Costs
    
             We capitalize a portion of the interest on funds borrowed to finance the construction costs of
   our satellites and related launch vehicles for our FM-6 satellite in 2011 and for our FM-6 and XM-5
   satellites in 2010. We also incur interest costs on all of our debt instruments and certain
   contingent incentive payments due pursuant to our satellite construction agreements. The following
   is a summary of our interest costs:
    
   
           Included in interest costs incurred is non-cash interest expense, consisting of
   amortization related to original issue discounts, premiums and deferred financing fees, of $9,661
   and $11,175 for the three months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively, and $19,234 and
   $22,294 for the six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively.
    
   
   
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