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.
Sir Richard Branson has told ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore his dream of commercial space travel can live on if the problems that caused the fatal crash of Virgin Galactic's test craft SpaceShipTwo can be overcome.
He responded to Robert's question at a news conference at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California as he made his first public appearance after the crash.
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.