The X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer (XIPE) and the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT) are two mission proposals presented to the 4th European Space Agency call for a medium mission in 2015. The former promises to open a new window in the high energy Universe, by measuring for the first time the linear polarization of hundreds astrophysical sources in the soft/medium X-ray energy range; LOFT will exploit fast X-ray variabilities in source flux and spectrum to probe the state of matter at supra nuclear densities in neutron stars and the gravity theory in the very strong field regime in black holes. Both missions are based on breakthrough technologies - the Gas Pixel Detector and a particular kind of large area Silicon Drift Detectors - which will be presented together with the mission designs and scientific goals.

Biography: Fabio Muleri took his PhD in Astronomy at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" in 2009 with a thesis on the expectations and perspectives of X-ray photoelectric polarimetry. Since then, his activity has been the development of X-ray detectors, from photoelectric and Compton polarimeters to Silicon drift detectors, together with the study of the scientific possibilities of these instruments. He is a member of mission proposals under discussion (XIPE, LOFT, and IXPE) and participated to many others (e.g. SEEPE, IXO, POLARIX, NHXM).