Moon Express in race against time

Commercial space company says it is still on track to land on the moon and bag Google's $20m prize before the end of 2017

Moon Express, a private company founded in California in 2010, is living up to its name. This week in Washington DC, its chief executive, Bob Richards, said it was still on course to launch its lander by the end of the year.

To do this means sticking to a tight schedule. Moon Express is currently building the lander, termed the MX-1E, and hopes to be finished by the end of the summer so it can ship it to the launch site in New Zealand, where further challenges await.