Kayhan Space Corporation (B-423221; B-423221.2)

You should not care.

Category: Technical evaluation, cost or price evaluation

Date: 12 March 2025

URL: GAO Decision B-423221; B-423221.2

Kayhan Space Corp., of Lafayette, Colorado, protested NOAA’s evaluation and subsequent award of a contract to Slingshot Aerospace, Inc., under RFP No. 1305M424R0047. The contract involved developing a presentation layer for the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS). Kayhan argued that NOAA evaluated proposals unreasonably and unequally, asserting a latent ambiguity regarding past performance evaluation, improper conditional proposals by the awardee, and unbalanced pricing.

Key issues addressed included allegations of improper evaluation of Kayhan’s prior experience, specifically questioning whether a product proposed was clearly identified as an existing service or required further development, and concerns regarding meeting government security requirements. GAO found NOAA’s evaluation reasonable and documented adequately, dismissing Kayhan’s allegations of ambiguity over past performance evaluation as the solicitation explicitly required experience assessment without referencing past performance. Further, GAO rejected Kayhan’s claim that Slingshot placed improper conditions on the government, finding Slingshot's offer of additional benefits contingent on exercising all options was permissible. Additionally, GAO upheld NOAA’s evaluation for unbalanced pricing as consistent and reasonable.

The protest was denied.

Digest

1. Protest that the agency unreasonably and unequally evaluated proposals is denied where the record shows the agency evaluated proposals in accordance with the terms of the solicitation and did not engage in disparate treatment.
2. Protest that the solicitation contained a latent ambiguity regarding past performance is denied where the record shows that the solicitation did not require a past performance evaluation.
3. Protest that the awardee’s proposal placed a condition on the agency is denied where the record shows the awardee made an additional offering that was not required by the solicitation and did not condition its agreement to meet the requirements.
4. Protest that the agency failed to evaluate the awardee’s proposal for unbalanced pricing is denied where the record shows the agency evaluated the awardee’s proposal for unbalanced pricing in accordance with the terms of the solicitation.

Tags: GAO Protest, Technical Evaluation, Price Evaluation, Space Traffic Management, NOAA, Department of Commerce