The moon is still in reach. Teams that spent years working toward the goal of landing on the moon during the Google Lunar XPrize competition aren't giving up on their dreams of space glory. 

The Google-sponsored $30 million (£21 million, AU$37 million) bounty for reaching the moon went unclaimed when the original competition expired on March 31 after its initial 2014 deadline had been extended several times.  

But XPrize, a nonprofit organization that promotes public competitions for technological innovations, announced Thursday that it will continue the lunar race without Google as the title sponsor. 

The moon contest kicked off in 2007. As of early 2017, five Lunar XPrize teams had secured launch contracts for their lunar landers, but none had actually sent a spacecraft on its way by the time the competition ended.

"These space entrepreneurs are developing long-term business models around lunar transportation, and we cannot give up on them now," said Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer, senior director of prizes at XPrize.

Team Moon Express is one of the groups that's had success with the Lunar XPrize, having earned $1.25 million in prize money for reaching certain milestones. 

"While we plan to win this moon race and are committed to carrying the Lunar XPrize logo, the real opportunity is in opening the lunar frontier and the multibillion dollar industry that follows," said Moon Express founder Bob Richards.

XPrize is seeking a new title sponsor for the re-launched competition and says it will set out new parameters for the contest over the next few months. 

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.