As Blue Origin moves toward its goal of having "millions of people living and working in space," the company has launched and landed the same rocket four times in a row, an unprecedented feat aimed at ultimately lowering the cost of space travel. By 2018, it plans to soon fly tourists on short jaunts past the edge of space in capsules designed with large windows. And earlier this week, Bezos announced plans to fly a new massive rocket, capable of getting to orbit, by the end of the decade.

For his achievements, Bezos, the founder of amazon.com and the owner of The Washington Post, was awarded the prestigious Heinlein Prize Wednesday evening at an event at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The honor came with a $250,000 award that the multi-billionaire pledged to donate to Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, a nonprofit.

During a half-hour-long question-and-answer period, he offered some additional insights into his vision for how humans will eventually spread out into the solar system, what he hopes his legacy will be and how he competes against other billionaire space enthusiasts such as Elon Musk and Richard Branson.