  The LOFT mission concept is one of four candidates selected by ESA for the M3
launch opportunity as Medium Size missions of the Cosmic Vision programme. The
launch window is currently planned for between 2022 and 2024. LOFT is designed
to exploit the diagnostics of rapid X-ray flux and spectral variability that
directly probe the motion of matter down to distances very close to black holes
and neutron stars, as well as the physical state of ultra-dense matter. These
primary science goals will be addressed by a payload composed of a Large Area
Detector (LAD) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM). The LAD is a collimated (<1
degree field of view) experiment operating in the energy range 2-50 keV, with a
10 m^2 peak effective area and an energy resolution of 260 eV at 6 keV. The WFM
will operate in the same energy range as the LAD, enabling simultaneous
monitoring of a few-steradian wide field of view, with an angular resolution of
<5 arcmin. The LAD and WFM experiments will allow us to investigate variability
from submillisecond QPO's to year-long transient outbursts. In this paper we
report the current status of the project.
