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The US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) space office head defended Elon Musk’s SpaceX at a Congressional hearing despite the company’s unauthorised launch of a Starship prototype in December ignoring warnings from a safety inspector.

During the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on Wednesday, representative Peter DeFazio and others asked FAA associate administrator Wayne Monteith what SpaceX has “done to deal with the operational concerns” and “cultural issues,” flagged after the company’s unauthorised launch of its SN8 Starship prototype.

While Mr Monteith has criticised SpaceX in the past for its actions “inconsistent with a strong safety culture,” he defended the aviation authority’s decision to allow further flights of its Starship prototype rockets.

“We would not have cleared them to start flight operations again had I not been confident they had modified their procedures effectively and addressed the safety culture issues that we saw,” Monteith told the hearing committee.

Powered by three Raptor rocket engines and made of stainless steel, the Starship prototype stands about 45 metres (150 ft) tall, and represents an early version of the rockets that the company hopes would carry people to the Moon and Mars.