The great success of the Rossi X‐Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) has shown that X‐ray timing is an excellent tool for study of the physics of strong gravitational fields and for measurement of fundamental physical properties of black holes and neutron stars. In order to provide a qualitative advance in X‐ray timing capabilities, the next generation X‐ray timing mission will require an effective area near 10 square meters with sensitivity extending into the hard X‐ray band an order of magnitude increase in effective area over RXTE. Achieving such a large effective area at reasonable cost will require advances in detector technology. Silicon‐based detectors have a long heritage in space applications and can be fabricated in the large numbers needed for a large area detector by industry with existing facilities and at reasonable cost. I describe current work on the development of silicon‐based detectors suitable for a next generation X‐ray timing mission. © 2004 American Institute of Physics