AST SpaceMobile was handed a lawsuit from a company shareholder named Edward Hunter in a US district court this week, who is accusing AST SpaceMobile of creating “materially false and misleading” claims about Edward Hunter’s business operations.

Throughout the hearing, Hunter’s lawyer stated that that the company “overstated the durability of AST’s competitive position in the satellite D2C (direct to cell) market” by using satellites to provide the communication services to phones on ground.

“Defendants failed to disclose, inter alia, that AST’s competitive position in the satellite D2C market was not as strong or durable as Defendants had led investors to believe” brief statement made by the complaint. The complaint emphasized that the competitiveness began throughout September 2025 where SpaceX retrieved a valuable radio Spectrum from Echo Star, Boost Mobile’s parent company, to improvise its satellite-to-phone-service in their Starlink services.

The major goal of AST SpaceMobile was to takeoff a considerable amount of “Bluebird” satellites in space in the event of providing space-based communications to their partners over at Verizon and AT&T which would minimize the risks of cellular deadzones in isolated locations for their customers but that proposal have driven SpaceX to competitiveness as their Starlink is already providing similar services via T-Mobile.

SpaceX have devised their next-year’s plan to increase the speed of satellite-to-phone services to 150Mbps per user by launching their next-gen satellites, as well as their goal to overtake the 3 US carriers by harnessing satellites and ground-based femtocells which could make the traditional cell towers redundant over time.

AST SpaceMobile has been presenting itself as a satellite-to-phone partner for major carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. But Hunter’s complaint claims that AST overstated its strengths in the market and misled investors about rising costs and debt. He argues that this debt led to share dilution, ultimately causing losses for shareholders.

Hunter picked up 18 shares of AST in November 2025 and added more this past June at roughly $74 apiece. The stock surged to $133 in May before tumbling to $58. He now argues that he bought at inflated prices and has filed suit and he is seeking damages for investors who purchased between the month of March 4, 2025, and July 15, 2026.

AST SpaceMobile refused to comment, but in July the company pushed back its service launch from late 2026 to early 2027 after a major setback at one of its launch partners. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded during a ground test, devastating AST’s timeline. The company had planned to have at least 45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026, but so far only 13 are operational including its prototype BlueWalker 3.