The Space Weather Workshop is the definitive annual event (April 27–May 1, 2026) in Boulder, CO, bringing together the solar physics community with the industries affected by solar activity. It focuses on the prediction of solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and their impacts on the power grid, satellites, and aviation.
We are currently near the predicted peak of Solar Cycle 25. Professionals are searching for “G5 Geomagnetic Storm vulnerability” reports to prepare for potential power grid failures. The 2026 workshop focuses on the data coming from the recently launched SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow-On) satellite, which provides critical early warnings of solar wind speed increases.
With NASA’s Artemis II mission (crewed moon flyby) scheduled for late 2025/2026, space weather is no longer just a “satellite health” issue—it’s a life-safety issue for astronauts. Pros at the workshop are searching for “radiation shielding effectiveness” and “real-time solar particle event (SPE) forecasting” to protect crews outside the Earth’s protective magnetic field.
As of March 1, 2026, the long-standing Air Force solar forecast product is being replaced by a new, more advanced NOAA SWPC-generated product. Industry pros are searching for the “Transition to Operations (T2O) technical memo” to understand how to update their internal navigation and communication error-correction models.