Elon Musk biographer now claims SpaceX boss did not turn off Starlink in Crimea in stumbling wordplay
HAWTHORNE, CALIFORNIA: Walter Isaacson, the highly respected author and the biographer of Elon Musk's biography has walked back claims that the Space X boss turned off Starlinks access to Ukraine.
It was claimed the event occurred last year around when Ukraine was set to launch an underwater attack on the Russian fleet in Crimea when the communication was cut off, ultimately resulting in its failure.
What did Walter Isaacson claim in Elon Musk's biography before?
CNN reported, citing the excerpt from the book which read, "He secretly told his engineers to turn off coverage within 100 kilometres of the Crimean coast."
He reportedly stopped the communication fearing the attack would lead to a "mini Pearl Harbor" scenario and nuclear war.
"As a result, when the Ukrainian drone subs got near the Russian fleet in Sevastopol, they lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly."
Was Starlink activated over Crimea on government request?
Musk also shot back at the explosive claims stating that Starlink was never activated over Crimea even when he had received an "emergency request from government authorities."
He denied the request for "obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor," Musk posted on X on September 7.
He added, "If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation." He added, "...SpaceX did not deactivate anything."
"I am a citizen of the United States and have only that passport. No matter what happens, I will fight for and die in America," he continued.
There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2023
The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor.
If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and…
How did Isacson walk back on the explosive claim of 'deactivating' Space X Starlink over Crimea?
Isaacson also walked back on the explosive claim. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, he wrote, “To clarify on the Starlink issue: the Ukrainians thought coverage was enabled all the way to Crimea, but it was not.”
He added, “They asked Musk to enable it for their drone sub attack on the Russian fleet.”
“Based on my conversations with Musk, I mistakenly thought the policy to not allow Starlink to be used for an attack on Crimea had been first decided on the night of the Ukrainian attempted sneak attack that night," he continued.
To clarify on the Starlink issue: the Ukrainians THOUGHT coverage was enabled all the way to Crimea, but it was not. They asked Musk to enable it for their drone sub attack on the Russian fleet. Musk did not enable it, because he thought, probably correctly, that would cause a…
— Walter Isaacson (@WalterIsaacson) September 9, 2023
Isaacson added in the following post, “He now says that the policy had been implemented earlier, but the Ukrainians did not know it, and that night he simply reaffirmed the policy.”
Hi, Tim. Based on my conversations with Musk, I mistakenly thought the policy to not allow Starlink to be used for an attack on Crimea had been first decided on the night of the Ukrainian attempted sneak attack that night. He now says that the policy had been implemented…
— Walter Isaacson (@WalterIsaacson) September 9, 2023
Why wasn't the controversial Starlink claim corrected before publication?
It is still unclear why the issue of Starlink wasn't corrected in the book prior to its publication on September 12 which took two years to complete.
Isaacson, a well-known author who has already authored biographies of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein, has had his biography put into doubt as a result of the correction.
Prior to the faux pas with Musk, Isaacson, a professor of history at Tulane University and a former president of CNN, was well regarded by his peers, Daily Mail noted.
Since the author acknowledges that his book "mischaracterized" the problem, subsequent versions of the book will need to be modified as a result of his blunder, the report added.