The Royal Astronomical Society has talked of the "deep pessimism and anger" caused by funding cuts that it says will jeopardise university physics.

The recently established Science and Technology Facilities Council, STFC, has abandoned involvement in a telescope, high-energy gamma-ray astronomy and ground-based studies of the Sun's effect on the Earth amid a range of budget slashing that has been caused by an £80 million shortfall.

The Society, the UK's leading professional body for astronomy, says it has "a lack of confidence in STFC's handling of the current funding crisis" and adds that the council "has failed miserably to communicate with the community."

The Government "does not seem to have been made sufficiently aware of the potential damage to the UK's international science reputation and to UK physics departments, despite the fact that the Government has made physics a high-priority in its long-term economic policy."

The Society says that this decline will harm the attempt to attract more students to study physics. "There is now a real danger that the recent improvement in physics enrolment will be reversed."

A "delivery plan" from the council "pays lip-service to the need to foster the UK academic community... but has shown no evidence in its public statements or actions that it recognises this duty," it says, adding that the council has made a "catastrophic error".

The British National Space Centre and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have issued a report that outlines possible cooperation, notably in the UK led robotic Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecoms Experiment (MoonLITE) mission.

MoonLITE comprises a satellite which would travel to the Moon, enter its orbit and then release three or four 'penetrators' - small missiles - over the Moon's surface. Each penetrator would impact at high speed and embed instruments to reveal the interior structure of the Moon. MoonLITE, which would be launched no earlier than 2012, would deliver important new science about the Moon's interior and history while also testing the space communications network needed by future robotic and human explorers.

Prof Alan Smith of the Mullard Space Sciences Laboratory, which is leading the proposal, says that there is now a question mark over whether the UK could afford the mission.

"The issue is that in the STFC's existing budget, there isn't the capacity to pay for MoonLITE."

A BNSC spokesperson says: "The BNSC-NASA Joint Working Group offers the UK space sector significant international collaboration opportunities, of which MoonLITE is just one of several potential projects. Before a decision is made on whether to go ahead with MoonLITE, international scientific peer review and a more detailed technical study will need to be undertaken.

"With the STFC's budget rising by 13.6 per cent to a total of £1.9 billion over three years, the council will consider funding for MoonLITE against other priorities in its programme."