Washington: Moon Express, a California-based aerospace company co-founded by Indian-American billionaire Naveen Jain, aims to send the first commercial robotic spacecraft to the moon next year as part of a NASA lunar initiative.

Moon Express, which earlier this year became the first company to successfully test a prototype of a lunar lander, is planning a series of other tests later this year to pave the way for sending its lander to the moon in 2016, Jain told NBC News.