ATP Gov, LLC (B-422938; B-422938.2)

You should care.

Category: Technical evaluation, compliance

Date: 12 December 2024

URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-422938%2Cb-422938.2

ATP Gov, LLC, protested Air Force’s issuance of a delivery order to iGov Technologies, Inc. under the NASA SEWP IDIQ contract for military satellite communication equipment and services. ATP contended that iGov’s proposed terminal assembly failed to meet material requirements of the solicitation, specifically WGS certification at the time of proposal submission. Key issues:

1. Certification requirement: GAO found the solicitation mandated WGS certification for the terminal assembly at the proposal submission stage. Air Force’s approval of iGov’s solution, which required modifications and postproposal certification, violated this criterion.
2. Material requirement compliance: iGov’s base terminal met certification criteria but lacked auto-tracking capability, a threshold requirement. The modified version with autotracking was uncertified, making iGov’s proposal noncompliant with the solicitation.
3. Agency’s defense rejected: Arguments that certification was only required at a later stage or applied solely to the base terminal were deemed unreasonable.

The protest was sustained. GAO recommended reevaluation of proposals or revision of the solicitation to reflect the agency’s needs. Air Force must also reimburse ATP’s protest costs, including attorneys’ fees.

Digest

Protest is sustained where the solicitation required offerors to propose a product that met certification requirements at the time of proposal submission, and the awardee’s proposed product was not fully certified.