The Federal Aviation Administration announced the grant Tuesday.
Front Range Airport, which is about six miles southeast of Denver International Airport, is seeking FAA designation as a spaceport, where private companies could launch rockets or space planes with an FAA license.
The FAA also announced a $250,000 matching grant to Hawaii for a similar study and a nearly $24,000 grant to an existing spaceport in California to buy a firefighting system.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)