In this talk I will review the capabilities of the new solar missions, Hinode, STEREO, and SDO, coupled with what we have learned from SoHO, TRACE and other previous solar missions, for improving space weather predictions using data from GOES-R and other future satellites. Hinode's white telescope and focal plane package, X-ray telescope, and extreme-ultraviolet imaging spectrometer are providing spectacular new views of solar activity from the photosphere into the corona. STEREO's stereoscopic coverage and imaging capability of the solar atmosphere from the chromosphere to the Earth with white light coronagraphs and extreme-ultraviolet telescopes is similarly giving us a whole new picture of solar activity and its effects on the Earth. Concurrently, solar MHD numerical simulation modeling of the solar atmosphere is making giant strides based on ever-increasing computational power and its extension into full 3D modeling. The outlook for the future is further brightened by the upcoming SDO mission, which will provide unprecedented high time resolution of solar activity. I will attempt to evaluate the impact of the expected increases in our physical understanding of the solar atmosphere on space weather prediction.