The prestigious Heinlein Prize that encourages and rewards progress in commercial space activities was recently awarded to Jeff Bezos, CEO of space tourism firm Blue Origin and e-commerce giant Amazon.com. Bezos will receive the Heinlein Prize in a ceremony in Washington, DC on Sept. 14.

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Awarded every five years since 2006, the prize went to Bezos for his leadership in commercial space activities that have led to historic firsts and reusability in the commercial spaceflight industry, said the Heinlein Prize Trust.

The Heinlein Prize Trust said that under Bezos' leadership, Blue Origin developed a number of technology firsts that are driving U.S. space competitiveness.

The reusable BE-3, a liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engine, is now being used in Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft. Blue Origin's "New Shepard" is the first rocket ever to fly above the Karman Line (the dividing  line between space and Earth's atmosphere) into space and land vertically back on the Earth.

"Robert Heinlein inspired millions with his visionary -- and incredibly entertaining -- stories, and it's an honor for all of us at Blue Origin to receive this award," said Bezos. "Heinlein foresaw a thriving future with humans throughout the solar system. We won't stop working to make that vision come true."

SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who won the Heinlein Prize in 2011 for advances in space commercialization, was a favorite to repeat this year. More specifically, Musk received the prize for his work on Falcon 1, the first privately-developed launch vehicle to orbit the Earth.

The first winner of the prize was Dr. Peter Diamandis for his accomplishments in commercial space activities. Dr. Diamandis, who won in 2006, is an entrepreneur best known for being the founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation that awards the Ansari XPRIZE and for his work on SpaceShipOne, the first manned commercial vehicle to fly to space.

The Heinlein Prize honors the memory of renowned American sci-fi author, Robert A. Heinlein. The purpose of the Heinlein Prize is to encourage and reward progress in commercial space activities that advances Robert and his wife Virginia's dream of humanity's future in space.

In addition to the award, recipients receive a Lady Vivamus sword from Robert Heinlein's novel, Glory Road.

"Under Jeff's visionary leadership, Blue Origin has developed launch vehicles and a commercially-financed line of engines that pave the way to reusability in space transportation," said Art Dula, Trustee of the Heinlein Prize Trust.

"As a recipient of the Heinlein Prize, we recognize Jeff and the efforts of the Blue Origin team in its development of technologies that could revolutionize the industry and provide commercially-available launch capabilities to a variety of customers."

TagsHeinlein Prize, Jeff Bezos, blue origin, BE-3, Robert Heinlein, Elon Musk, Dr. Peter Diamandis