Born in Brasov, he graduated aeronautical engineering at Politehnica University of Bucharest in 1976, then worked as an engineer at IAR Brasov an aircraft industry facility, then he enrolled in the Romanian Air Force Officers Training School in 1977. becoming a airforce pilot.
On May 14 1981 he became the first Romanian to fly in space on Soyuz 40 and stayed eight days on Salyut 6 space station doing scientific research and experiments including exploration of Earth magnetic field.
Since 1990 he has been the Director of the civil aviation program of Romania and since 1998 President of ROSA (Romanian Space Agency). He is the author several books regarding space technology and space flight.