In Maxwell’s theory of EM waves, was he also able to predict that they could travel through a vacuum? (i.e. in the absence of a medium)

Question

In my current syllabus, this is what is being inferred through various worksheets and some online materials. But I can’t seem to find the right answer anywhere. If Maxwell suggested this, then why was Einstein’s development of special relativity the first one to oppose the existence of Aether, when if Maxwell said ‘light and thereby EM waves don’t need a medium’ then Aether could’ve just been trashed right there

In: Physics

Answer 1

I believe that it was already understood that EM waves could travel in a vacuum before Maxwell formulated his equations, since they include the permeability and permittivity of free space.

Einstein wasn’t the first to poke holes in the aether theory. Michelson and Moreley had already done that in 1887.