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.

The launch company, Rocket Lab, is still developing its Electron rocket. As yet, Rocket Lab has only had one partially successful launch, which took place on 25 May.

Moon Express is in a rush because if it meets the schedule and lands successfully by the end of the year, it could win the $20m Google Lunar X-prize. The challenge was announced in 2007 and the deadline for the prize is the end of 2017.

Even if it misses the deadline and forfeits the prize, Moon Express will press ahead with its plans. It is planning at least three missions. After the MX-1E, a lander near the lunar south pole would prospect for ice and other resources. A third mission would bring samples back to Earth for analysis.

To date, only national superpowers have made lunar landings: the US, Russia and China. Moon Express hopes to be the first commercial company to follow suit. The company’s ultimate intention is to mine the Moon for resources that could be used in-situ on a lunar base or brought back to Earth.