Speaker

Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu works as an expert within the Romanian Association for Space Technology and Industry and as a member of the Board of the Romanian Space Agency. In May 1981 Prunariu accomplished an eight-day space flight on board Soyuz-40 spacecraft and Saliut-6 space station.

Prunariu is one of the founding members and former president of the Association of Space Explorers, was also the President of the Romanian Space Agency, the Ambassador of Romania to the Russian Federation, the chair of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, and representative of Romania in the International Relations Committee of the European Space Agency. He earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the University Politehnica of Bucharest and a Ph.D. in the field of space flight dynamics. An asteroid was named with his name, the asteroid “10707 Prunariu”.

He is married to Crina Prunariu, retired diplomat from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, former Ambassador of Romania to Armenia. They have two sons and four grandchildren.