The United States has rejected a proposal from Russia to explore the moon together, Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian space agency, said.

“We are ready to cooperate but for some reasons the United States has announced that it will carry out the program itself,” he said, quoted by the Associated Press. “Strange as it is, the United States is short of experts to implement the program,” he said.

NASA said in December 2006 that it would establish an international base camp on one of the moon’s poles, permanently staffing it by 2024. Officials with Russia’s federal space agency, Roscosmos, later said they had hoped to join NASA’s program, contributing Russian technology and space experience.

Michael Braukus, a NASA spokesman in Washington, said the agency had received no lunar exploration proposal from Roscosmos.

“We haven’t rejected anyone’s proposal,” he said. “We are really into involving the international community in this. We’re very interested in getting more involved and cooperating in our exploration efforts.”

Perminov also said Russia had signed a $1 billion contract with NASA for Russian cargo ships to deliver goods to the international space station over the next three years — an indication, he said, of the competitiveness of Russia’s space services.

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