Share Amazon appears to be readying a big play for its Project Kuiper satellite business in East Asia, as it began advertising for high-ranking government sales roles to cover Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. In postings on its Amazon jobs platform, Amazon Kuiper revealed it was seeking government solutions country managers in the continent’s three countries, with candidates required to lead development and operations, have a track record in driving adoption of complex technology within government sectors and be able to navigate complex regulatory environments. Amazon’s Project Kuiper has seen real progress this year after first being unveiled in 2019, as it sent its first batch of 27 birds into low Earth Orbit (LEO) in April. It then followed up with another 27 satellites in June, but is still way off a target of a projected constellation of 3,236 satellites. The company is planning to launch commercial services later this year, with plans to offer government and corporate packages. It will directly compete with Elon Musk-owned SpaceX’s Starlink offering. Bloomberg reported tapping into Taiwan could help the country build resilience and maintain internet access in case there is an attack from China, with tensions heightened between the countries. Taiwan government officials stated at the end of 2024 there had been talks with Amazon about potentially bringing Project Kuiper to the country. In recent years, local reports suggest the country has been working to deploy a fleet of high-altitude balloons and drones as backup connectivity options, in case of natural disaster or military conflict. Operator Chunghwa Telecom also signed a deal with Eutelsat OneWeb for access to LEO services.