Investigators examining the wreckage of the Virgin Galactic spacecraft which crashed in the Mojave Desert say it could take a year to determine the cause of the accident.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials are expected to spend a week at the crash site in California.
They will carry out interviews and gather further evidence before beginning an analysis of what caused Friday's crash, which killed the co-pilot and injured the pilot.
NTSB acting chairman Christopher Hart said the full investigation may take up to 12 months, adding that Virgin Galactic can continue to operate while the probe is under way.
Mr Hart said investigators will use evidence from several cameras located on the craft to determine why it broke apart over the desert.
"Because it was a test flight, it was heavily documented in ways that we don't usually see with normal accidents," he said.
Details of the investigation came as emails emerged suggesting concerns had previously been raised about operating procedures of Virgin Galactic's partner Scaled Composites, following the earlier deaths of three people during a test.
Sir Richard Branson has admitted the fatal Virgin Galactic crash is a "massive setback for commercial space travel", but said it was not acceptable to comment on the cause until the full investigation has taken place.
He said: "To be honest I find it slightly irresponsible that people who know nothing about what they are saying can be saying things before the NTSB makes their comments."
The Virgin Group founder also said: "It is a horrible day for Virgin Galactic, for commercial space travel - it's a massive setback.
"But we've got to pick ourselves up and see whether the problem is fixable, and hopefully move the programme forward.
"I'm hopeful we'll be able to overcome the problems."
Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are among those who are said to have bought tickets for a future flight and Sir Richard said none of the 700 ticket holders have backed out so far.
In fact, Sir Richard said, one more person had bought a ticket since the crash.
Co-pilot Michael Alsbury, 39, from Tehachapi, California, was killed.
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Gallery: Images Showing Wreckage Of SpaceshipTwo In The Mojave Desert
SpaceShipTwo and its mother ship WhiteKnightTwo are pictured before the test flight. Pic: Virgin Galactic/Scaled Composites/Jason DiVenere
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Part of the wreckage from the Virgin Galactic SpaceshipTwo lies in California's Mojave Desert after it crashed
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Photographer Ken Brown said the craft was released from the plane that carries it to high altitude, ignited its rocket motor and then exploded
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Two pilots were on board. California authorities said one died and the other was badly hurt
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A witness said the space tourism craft exploded during a test flight over the desert
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The aim of such flights was to assess SpaceShipTwo in preparation for suborbital trips to the edge of space about 62 miles above the Earth
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Hundreds of people have already reserved seats and paid a deposit on the $250,000 (£156,000) ticket price for the flights. Pic: Virgin Galactic
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After several delays, Sir Richard Branson's company had hoped to start taking passengers to the edge of space in 2015
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But space expert Marco Caceres said: "You are not going to see any commercial space tourism flight next year or probably several years after that."
The pilot, Peter Siebold, 43, was badly injured after ejecting.
Scaled Composites, which works with Virgin Galactic on the project, said its employee he has begun to communicate with his family at the Antelope Valley Hospital, where he is being treated.
The tragedy occurred after SpaceShipTwo fired up its rocket following a high-altitude drop from its WhiteKnightTwo mothership.
Virgin Galactic had been aiming to become the first commercial "spaceline", by beginning tourist flights to the edge of space next year.
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