z Q&A
1. 2 more prototype Starships (Mk3 and Mk4) will be built; 1 more for both Boca and Cape.
2. First Super Heavy booster will be made probably after Mk5 Starship is done as they haven't ramped up engine production yet.
3. Currently they can build 1 Raptor every 8-10 days, within a few months they should be able to get it to 1 every 2 days. This is very important because Super Heavy is going to have 31-37 (depending on mission) engines... so the first batches are going to the 3 engine, then 6 engine Starship prototypes.
4. He expects MK1 to fly 20KM test in 1-2 months and plans on (probably) MK5 with the first Super Heavy to reach orbit for the first tine... within 6 months.
5. He thinks the first crewed missions (probably just orbiting LEO, but I don't think he said) could potentially be within a year.
6. Fuel boil-off is not as difficult of a problem as people might think. The cold side of Starship will be only 3 Kelvin, so they will keep "cold stuff on the cold side, hot stuff on the hot side" and the LOX will be in a tank in the vacuum of a larger tank which will prevent boil-off. Apparently cold vacuum tanks are how it's stored on Earth?
7. In reference to the Bridenstine tweet... only 5% of SpaceX is working on Starship currently. According to Elon it's much easier to build prototype designs than doing the fine tuning they're doing on their Falcon vehicles.