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.
Investigators say a five-mile-wide path of debris indicates that the prototype Virgin Galactic spacecraft that crashed on Friday, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another, indicates that the vessel broke up in flight.
"When the wreckage is dispersed like that, it indicates the likelihood of inflight breakup," National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) acting chairman Christopher Hart said.
Learning where aircraft parts fell will help investigators determine when and how the breakup occurred, he said.
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.