The expanding space weather services of the SIDC at the Royal Observatory of Belgium

Originally founded in 1981 as the World Data Centre for the Sunspot Index, the SIDC (Solar Influences Data analysis Centre) shifted to a higher gear in 2000, when it became a Regional Warning Centre of the ISES (taking over this activity from Meudon). The obvious link between space weather and solar activity - a prime research topic of the solar physics department of the Royal Observatory of Belgium - and the equally obvious relevance of continuous long-term monitoring of solar activity have made the SIDC well-placed to embark on this new future. Thanks to becoming one of the Service Development Activities in the Space Weather Applications Pilot Project recently set up by ESA, the SIDC has been able to further improve and expand these activities. In this paper we discuss some of the new tools, models and data that have been or will be developed to this purpose. It will also be detailed how the scientific and operational involvement of the Royal Observatory of Belgium in many future space missions oriented towards solar physics and solar monitoring will help the SIDC become an independent European space weather monitoring and forecasting centre.