The Heliophysics Coalition: Advocating for Heliophysics, together

Solar and space physics research has been woefully underfunded. This is especially apparent when looking at support for the NASA Heliophysics Division, which has seen only marginal growth that has barely kept pace with inflation over the past decade. Meanwhile, the national focus on this research and its societal relevance via space weather has expanded driving additional demands on the community. Over the past few years, the community has leveraged informal coordination between advocacy-focused committees of the America Astronomical Society Division of Solar Physics and the American Geophysics Union Space Physics and Aeronomy Section with major Heliophysics research institutions to agree upon and amplify Heliophysics asks to Congress. This coordination resulted in very strong Appropriation levels and language in FY20 and FY21. Beginning in Fall 2022, an effort was made to engage the broader community to formalize and expand this initiative with an aim towards the future, especially with a new Decadal Survey on the horizon. This was motivated by several goals, most notably to a) grow awareness around the importance of heliophysics research with new and consistent messaging to engage stakeholders in creative new ways about excitement in the field and b) Advocate for growth in the federal budget to meet the needs of a bold future program. The result - the Heliophysics Coalition - brings together over twenty academic, non-profit, and commercial institutions across the country to advocate for the fundamental importance and societal relevance of heliophysics research, not only for maintaining our nation’s scientific pre-eminence and leadership in space exploration, but also to ensure our national security.