Where will BFR be built?

[pb2000]

What if the primary purpose of the boring company is just for fill material so Elon can create a land reclamation company? After he's done creating space for the BFR factory, he can start on his offshore supervillain island lair.

[Dave G]

What if the primary purpose of the boring company is just for fill material so Elon can create a land reclamation company? After he's done creating space for the BFR factory, he can start on his offshore supervillain island lair.

[humor]
You have no idea what you're talking about!  Musk is clearly on record saying he wants to buy a volcano lair.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/588144086755999744?lang=en
[/humor]

[QuantumG]

Anyone identified where the new floor space at the Port of LA is yet?

[Dave G]

Anyone identified where the new floor space at the Port of LA is yet?

Nope.  Lots of speculation, but no clue where where the new building is.

And that seems kind of strange.  Musk said they plan to start building BFS in the second quarter of 2018.  That starts just 15 weeks from now.  Presumably, they'll need that much time to set up the manufacturing equipment. 

So unless SpaceX is way behind schedule, they should be setting up the BFS assembly line as we speak.

But in the past, SpaceX hasn't keep the locations of their new facilities secret.  Quite the opposite.

So either:
1) They're already way behind the announced schedule for starting BFS production in 2Q 2018, or
2) They have some good reason to make an exception and keep the location secret, at least for now.

[jpo234]

But in the past, SpaceX hasn't keep the locations of their new facilities secret.  Quite the opposite.

The BFR tank building required a lot of internet sleuthing to find...

[Dave G]

But in the past, SpaceX hasn't keep the locations of their new facilities secret.  Quite the opposite.

The BFR tank building required a lot of internet sleuthing to find...

Right, but the 12m tank that was used for early pressure testing wasn't built at a SpaceX facility.  It was built at  Janicki Industries in Sedro-Woolley, Washington.

SpaceX usually keeps a low profile about their subcontractors.

By contrast, they normally publicize SpaceX facilities at new locations. And at Stanford, Gwynne mentioned the new BFR manufacturing site, so that's consistent with making SpaceX locations public. Why then have we not heard more?

[Ronsmytheiii]

1) They're already way behind the announced schedule for starting BFS production in 2Q 2018, or
2) They have some good reason to make an exception and keep the location secret, at least for now.

Or they haven't finalized the deal with a facility owner, not appropriate to talk about it until the deal is finalized.

[MaxTeranous]

1) They're already way behind the announced schedule for starting BFS production in 2Q 2018, or
2) They have some good reason to make an exception and keep the location secret, at least for now.

Or they haven't finalized the deal with a facility owner, not appropriate to talk about it until the deal is finalized.

Or they can start to build some parts of the BFS in existing facilities and don't need the final assembly building in place yet. You don't need a full end to end assembly line in place before you put together the first nut and bolt, so to speak.

[Dave G]

1) They're already way behind the announced schedule for starting BFS production in 2Q 2018, or
2) They have some good reason to make an exception and keep the location secret, at least for now.

Or they haven't finalized the deal with a facility owner, not appropriate to talk about it until the deal is finalized.

Yes.  That's what I was thinking about for 2) above.

Or they can start to build some parts of the BFS in existing facilities and don't need the final assembly building in place yet. You don't need a full end to end assembly line in place before you put together the first nut and bolt, so to speak.

I've always assumed the majority of BFR / BFS manufacturing would occur at Hawthorne.  That would include Raptor engines, avionics, grid fins, basically part or sub-assembly that can be road transported without temporarily removing traffic lights, utility poles, etc.

So the new BFR / BFS manufacturing site will just be for building the large CF structures and doing final assembly.

That said, when Elon stated:

The tooling for the main tanks has been ordered, the facility is being built. We will start construction of the first ship around the second quarter of next year...

It seems to me like he's talking about the facility that will build the large CF structures and do final assembly.