Engineers developing Nasa's new rockets have denied that the agency's human spaceflight plans are too expensive, too risky and subject to long delays.
The US space agency has already spent four years developing its next-generation rockets, called Ares.
The engineers defended their work before a presidential panel tasked with reviewing Nasa's plans beyond 2010, when the shuttle is due to be retired.
They said Ares was the safest, fastest way to get Americans back into space.
Critics have asked questions about the technical scope of the next-generation human spaceflight programme, known as Constellation, and Nasa's ability to manage its cost.
Some have called for the Ares launchers to be scrapped in favour of adapting existing rockets.
"We have done what we said we would do and we are well on the way to our first test flight," said Steve Cook, head of the Ares project office at Nasa's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Speaking during a public hearing, Mr Cook dismissed suggestions by some that the space agency was on a flawed path with Ares.
"There have been several outside reviews since we began," he explained.
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