Amala Mararu
founder
As a kid in the Southern Transylvania, under pitch-black skies near the Făgăraș mountains, I’d lose myself in the Milky Way, inspired by Jules Verne’s *From the Earth to the Moon*, which fueled my future astronomy, optical spectrometry, radioastronomy, quantum physics and astrophysics dreams and personal studies and hobbies, while Brian May’s zodiacal dust research (and Queen riffs!) lit up my college nights. While Hedy Lamarr’s frequency-hopping patent sparked my love for tech innovation, Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machines and my early readings, at age 8, about Emil Racoviță's Antartic expedition aboard the ship Belgica, the world's first biologist to study the arctic life, showed me how science, exploration and discovery shape the frontiers of human knowledge and drive progress and understanding, driving my astronomy and space law passion. I’ve volunteered in NASA Science projects, hunting asteroids, exploring Hycean worlds, and classifying stars, feeling like May trying to decipher and reconcile the biggest and the smallest secretes of the physical and quantum Universes.
His Excellency,
Mr. Richard (Dick) Warner Carlson
U.S. Ambassador (Ret.)
Director of the Voice of America
Vice-Chairman of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
“Amala is a smart, likable and experienced lawyers with extensive connections both in Romania and abroad. I would recommend her firm.”
Mr. David E. Greenberg
AVP International Operations
American Bureau of Credit, ABC Amega Inc.
"It is my absolute pleasure to fully recommend Ioan and his partner Amala to anyone needing legal representation in Romania. I have used them on some very difficult cases and can attest to to their professional attention to detail and quality results. This is a team which should be a part of your team."
Courtesy of NASA, JPL-Caltech and Lockheed Martin Space, my NASA InSight Mission to Mars boarding pass, confirming that my name, written on a silicon wafer chip using an electron beam - aboard the Insight Lander carried by the Atlas V 401 rocket, launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, in May 2018 - landed on Mars, Elysium Planitia, on Nov 26, 2018, where it will stay for the ages: my badge of Martian dreams, echoing Verne’s vision.
Chasing the light
My first astrophotography
After years of theoretical studies, visual observations and a first AP shot at this target four years earlier, in 2021 Ioan and I tracked and captured Messier 31, the Andromeda Galaxy, and its smaller galactic companion (M110), 2.5 million light-years away from Earth, with a marvel of Japanese astronomical air-spaced triplet APO optics with two ED lenses (FPL-53 and FPL-51), in an Italian astronomical equipment manufacturing startup's CNC'ed patented OTA and focuser, tracked by a major US manufacturer's AZ/EQ mount, and guided by a best-in-its-class Chinese-made guiding camera controlled by a community developed and supported guiding software, under a Bortle 2, 21.7 SQM pitch-black Transylvanian sky — a many hours of passionate endeavour made possible by shared passion, technologies and patents, a true testament to what can be achieved through shared science, IP, technology, community, volunteer-driven contributions, and cooperation.
My Legal and Science Mix
For 25 years, I’ve been a Romanian attorney, steering technology, telecommunications, energy, natural resources and industrial giants through complex deals. I led telecom mergers, navigated cross-border intricacies, advised Romania's biggest industrial employers confederation, shaping economic policies with Romania’s government, and structured a $266M natural resources infrastructure concession. Since the early 2000s, I’ve studied U.S. case law, shivering as I transcribed Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s handwritten notes for posterity, decoding their genius for law students and scholars. Inspired by Eilene Galloway’s 1967 Outer Space Treaty, I’m driving our firm’s space law practice, crafting satellite regulations and Artemis Accords compliance (54 signatories, April, 2025). Whether securing IP for energy tech or guiding NATO contracts, I bring strategic clarity.
Where Space Meets Law
Four years into my legal practice since my Bucharest Bar admission in October 2000, I already successfully represented in court Romania's richest man (oil & natural resources) in a high stakes defamation trial against another Romanian natural resources tycoon. Throughout my law practice career, I was privileged to learn from the best possible mentors, true masters of litigation, diplomacy or skill, and work with and be entrusted with their most sensitive and challenging legal matters by some of the biggest international corporations doing business in Romania.
One starry night, studying a globular cluster, I saw my legal work as mapping constellations, like George P. Sloup, NASA’s first general counsel. That insight clinched a wind farm deal, aligning stakeholders like stars. In 2019, Ioan, I, Razvan Turcu, and Emilian Enache submitted an Artemis-themed video for NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge, a proud moment tying my Martian dreams to law. Da Vinci’s polymathy and Racoviță's bold exploration of Antartica's harsh environment insights guide my work on space treaty liability gaps, crafting Mars mission rules. With Ioan’s tech wizardry, I’ve built Romania’s go-to space law firm, advising international ventures and startups on tech transfers, disputes, and R&D. Let’s chart your stars! Give me a call at +40-31-421-5150 or email me at amala@lawinspace.com.
Professional Biography
2004 -
Founder, Sr. Partner,
Mararu & Mararu S.C.A.
Senior managing partner, legally assisting and representing foreign capital, investors and corporations in Romania, also covering other business functions and jobs: Outside Legal Counsel, Commercial Litigator, HR Recruiter, Board Advisor, Independent Legal, Business and Data Researcher and Auditor, Business Intelligence & Criminal Intelligence Investigator and Analyst, Office Administrator
2000-2004
Associate, Litigation Attorney
Intern, and then junior associate with Vâlcu Vărzaru Law Firm, a major litigation outlet (April, 2000 - Jan 14, 2001), Associate with Marian Teodosiu Law Office, a niche litigation shop in Bucharest (Jan 15, 2001 - Jul 31. 2002), and then Senior Associate with Valentin Vâlcu Law Office (Sep 15, 2002 - Feb 14, 2004), a go-to litigation boutique for Romania's powerful and mighty.
2001-2002
Postgraduate Diploma
Postgraduate studies in Criminal Sciences and Forensics, the Law Faculty of the University of Bucharest, the same law faculty graduated by my grandmother
Oct 15, 2000
Bar Admission
Admitted to the Bucharest Bar.
Since 2007, I am a High-Court of Cassation and Justice qualified attorney, licensed to practice law before all courts at national level.
1995-1999
Law Diploma
After graduating probably the best National College in Romania, "Gheorghe Lazar" of Bucharest, with majors in chemistry & biology, I followed the courses of the Law Faculty of "Universitatea Ecologica" of Bucharest, an university with an emphasis on environmental law and natural sciences, which is where I also met Ioan, my husband and law firm partner. Throughout my studies with this private university, I have been inspired by many of my university professors, heads of cathedra with the prestigious Law Faculty of the Bucharest University and of doctoral schools, legal researchers, doctoral supervisors and authors such as Prof. Univ. Dr. Emilian Stancu - Criminalistics, Prof. Univ. Dr. Gheorghe Beleiu - Civil Law, Prof. Univ. Dr. Emil Molcuț - Roman Law, or Prof. Univ. Dr. Ion Craiovan - the General Theory of Law. My law diploma was issued the Alexandru Ioan Cuza Police Academy of Bucharest, which organized the finals for the class of my graduation year (law diploma state exams).
