Finding water appears to not be a problem on Mars. We need a small nuclear reactor to make chemical processing fast and simple, using heat derived from the reactor or electricity from a generator attached to the reactor to produce heat. Life on Mars and especially the Moon will not be possible without a nuclear reactor to support every aspect of any colony that is started. Even a basic habitat will require a reactor for heat and light during the two weeks in the shade. There are a few locations that have continuous sunlight, but we are going to want to go beyond those. On Mars, a reactor can both support melting initially and drilling beyond that. We need to be careful, though, because we might drill into more than water if Mars went through a "swamp" phase.
Secondly, Starships and Super Heavies that can withstand years of service are going to require one of two techniques. One, reinforcing bands for the welds, which will be too heavy, or two, using friction-stir welding for joining all the cylinders and the tank headers and nose cones. Two will require a little cleaner environment than the current method, but the results will be segments joined as if they were single pieces of metal, with no impurities from the welds. That is the method currently used on F9 tanks and headers and it is available for stainless steel, All that is required is jigs to support and align the equipment and a fairly clean environment, which can be provided by pressurized gases as are already used for normal welding. If there are tensions left in the metal, the whole thing can be annealed in the equivalent of a paint oven.
The method laid out in "two" above is reasonably simple and uses available technology whose cost can be recovered over the many rockets he plans to build. The current welding techniques are expensive and weak and need to be superseded.
If he needs welders, all he has to do is go up the coast to Del Mar Technical Vocational school in Corpus Christi. It produces top notch welders that can pass X-ray on any job in the world. If Elon will work with them, they can train welders and mechanics to any standard he will like. They also produce diesel mechanics who are used to working in a clean room because of the fine tolerances in diesel injectors.
And anyone who goes to Del Mar is used to working in the heat and humidity of the Gulf Coast. I know these things because I am the son of the man who started the school and the master welding instructor was my godfather. They are both gone now, but they left behind a fine school.
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