The pilot who was injured in the Virgin Galactic rocket crash is "alert and talking" to relatives and doctors, his employer has said.
Peter Siebold, 43, was one of two pilots in command of SpaceShipTwo when in crashed during a test flight over California's Mojave Desert on Friday.
He was badly injured after ejecting and parachuting to the ground when the craft suffered what Virgin Galactic called a "serious anomaly".
His employer Scaled Composites said Mr Siebold has begun to communicate with his family at the Antelope Valley Hospital, where he is being treated.
"He is alert and talking with his family and doctors," the company said in a statement.
"We remain focused on supporting the families of the two pilots and all of our employees, as well as the agencies investigating the accident.
"We ask at this time that everyone please respect the privacy of the families."
The company also paid tribute to 39-year-old co-pilot Michael Alsbury, who was killed in the crash, describing him as a "respected and devoted colleague".
According to his biography on the company's website, Mr Alsbury, from Tehachapi, California, worked as a project engineer and test pilot.
The fatal flight was his ninth onboard SpaceShipTwo.
He served as co-pilot on the spacecraft's first rocket-powered test flight on April 29, 2013, and had logged more than 1,600 hours in Scaled Composites aircraft since joining the company 13 years ago.
Mr Siebold has been identified as the director of flight operations at Scaled Composites.
He is an aeronautical engineer, experimental test pilot, and flight test engineer with 17 years of flight experience.
He has spent 2,000 hours working in 35 different fixed wing aircraft and has been employed by the company since 1996.
Investigators say it may take up to 12 months to determine the cause of the accident.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the crash, Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson said the accident is a "massive setback for commercial space travel".
But he hopes the programme will be back on track within six months. He added that to "push on blindly" with the project without knowing the cause of the crash would be an "insult" to Mr Alsbury.
The National Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating the cause of the accident.
Virgin Galactic had been aiming to become the first commercial "spaceline", by beginning tourist flights to the edge of space next year.
Customers will pay up to $250,000 (£156,000) for a short journey into zero gravity and a glimpse of the planet from the edge of space.
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