The investigation into what caused the Virgin Galactic test flight to crash could take as long as 12 months, lead investigator Chris Hart has said.
Mr Hart, who is acting head of the National Transportation Safety Board, also told reporters that his team would interview injured co-pilot Peter Siebold when he was ready.
US National Transportation Safety Board investigators are currently examining the wreckage of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, which crashed in the Mohave desert on Friday.
Michael Alsbury, 39, has been confirmed as the co-pilot who died in the crash while surviving pilot Peter Siebold, 43, is now "alert and talking to family and doctors."
Faced with a five-mile debris trail and masses of technical data, the team investigating the crash of SpaceShipTwo have their work cut out.
The loss is a tragedy for this small tight-knit team that dreams of making the trip into space accessible to travellers not just astronauts.