Time is running out for the 16 teams entered into the Google Lunar XPRIZE, which requires entrants to land a small spacecraft on the surface of The Moon by the end of 2017. But now, eight years after the prize was announced, the competitors are beginning to show tangible signs of progress.

In October an Israeli team, SpaceIL, became the first of the 16 competitors to announce a launch contract to carry its lander to the Moon. The team signed up for a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch in the second half of 2017. On Tuesday a second team attained that goal, as the US-based Moon Express, led by Bob Richards, announced a deal for a Rocket Lab Electron rocket in 2017.

"We believe that the spirit of competition brings about breakthroughs that once seemed unimaginable or impossible, and so it thrills us to now have two Google Lunar XPRIZE teams with verified launch contracts attempting missions to the moon in 2017," said Bob Weiss, vice chairman and president of XPRIZE, in a statement. "The new space race is truly on!"

To win the prize a team must land a privately funded rover on the Moon, have that vehicle travel 500 meters, and then transmit high definition video and images back to Earth. The first team to accomplish this wins $20 million; the second team receives $5 million. Teams have until the end of 2016 to obtain verified launch contracts and must complete their missions by the end of 2017.

The competition seeks to spur private development of lunar resources and further stimulate new space companies that increase access to space and lower flight costs.