Does ultraviolet astronomy have a future?

Recent news of the cancellation of further servicing missions for HST and the recent failure of its prime UV spectrograph has brought into focus the limited future for UV astronomy, without rapid action. If this situation does not change, the routine access to the far-UV that we have enjoyed for more than 25 years, since the launch of IUE, will end by around 2008. Although the James Webb Space Telescope is planned to replace HST in the next decade, it is infrared-optimized and has no UV capability. Indeed, not one future UV/optical mission is currently approved by any space agency. This article reviews the status and likely future of the current UV missions, addresses the scientific importance of UV observations and presents a way forward that could fill the "UV-gap" in the decade beyond HST.