Space weather prediction and near-Earth environmental specification are rapidly growing critical support and security infrastructures of our technology-based society. Increasing deployment of national and commercial assets in space, enhanced reliance on GPS capabilities, the low cost-benefit of trans-polar aviation traffic, and the burgeoning commercial space industry are all driving this renewed demand for advanced and timely space weather products and services.

In situ measurements of the space environment can only be obtained from satellite platforms. Satellites are also the preferred locations for remote sensing of the Sun, the intervening interplanetary medium (the heliosphere) and the Earth's magnetosphere/ionosphere/thermosphere, since ground-based facilities are generally compromised by turbulence and turbidity in the lower troposphere.

In this presentation I will describe and motivate the critical physical data inputs for numerical space weather prediction models. I will then provide an outlook on evolving requirements and the potential for innovative national and international partnerships to ensure the future continuity of critical data products and enhanced situational awareness capabilities for the space weather enterprise.