Millennium Engineering and Integration Company

B-417359.4,B-417359.5 Dec 03, 2019 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Millennium Engineering and Integration Company, of Arlington, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to ARES Technical Services Corporation, of Columbia, Maryland,under request for proposals (RFP) No. 80KSC018R0006, issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Kennedy Space Center, for engineering and management services, referred to as the “Kennedy Exploration Ground Systems Program Support Services” (KLXS III) procurement. Millennium contends that NASA's award decision was flawed because the agency engaged in misleading discussions with the protester. Millennium also argues the agency's evaluation of ARES' proposal and resulting award decision were improper. We dismiss the protest in part and deny the protest in part. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  Millennium Engineering and Integration Company File:  B-417359.4; B-417359.5 Date:  December 3, 2019 Paul F. McQuade, Esq., Daniel D. Straus, Esq., and Danielle K. Muenzfeld, Esq., Greenberg Traurig LLP, for the protester. Daniel R. Forman, Esq., and James G. Peyster, Esq., Crowell & Moring LLP, for ARES Technical Services Corporation, the intervenor. Alexander T. Bakos, Esq., Louis T. Shernisky, Esq., and Timothy M. Bass, Esq., National Aeronautics and Space Administration, for the agency. Louis A. Chiarella, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest that the agency engaged in misleading discussions with the protester is dismissed as untimely where the agency had informed offerors that its earlier corrective action would not involve engaging in further discussions, or permitting the submission of revised proposals, and the protester failed to timely challenge the grounds rules of the procurement. 2.  Protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of the awardee’s past performance is denied where the protester fails to demonstrate that it suffered any competitive prejudice from the alleged error.  3.  Protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of awardee’s compensation plan is denied where it was reasonable and consistent with the stated evaluation criteria. 4.  Protest challenging the agency’s best-value tradeoff determination is denied where the decision was reasonable, consistent with the stated evaluation criteria, and adequately documented as to why the awardee’s proposal represented the overall best value to the government. DECISION Millennium Engineering and Integration Company, of Arlington, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to ARES Technical Services Corporation, of Columbia, Maryland, under request for proposals (RFP) No. 80KSC018R0006, issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Kennedy Space Center, for engineering and management services, referred to as the “Kennedy Exploration Ground Systems Program Support Services” (KLXS III) procurement.  Millennium contends that NASA’s award decision was flawed because the agency engaged in misleading discussions with the protester.  Millennium also argues the agency’s evaluation of ARES’ proposal and resulting award decision were improper. We dismiss the protest in part and deny the protest in part. BACKGROUND The Kennedy Space Center is NASA’s primary launch center for human spaceflight.  The Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program, one of three NASA programs based at the Kennedy Space Center, is responsible for developing the necessary ground systems infrastructure to support the assembly, test, launch, and recovery functions for NASA’s Space Launch Systems and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle programs.  The purpose of the KLXS III procurement is to acquire support services for the EGS program in the areas of ground systems and space flight systems planning and design; project management and integration; operations integration and analysis; technical requirements development, management, and compliance; and cost, risk, and schedule integration and analysis.  Contracting Officer’s Statement (COS) at 6; Agency Report (AR), Tab 3, RFP, Performance Work Statement (PWS) at 650.[1] The RFP was issued on April 13, 2018, pursuant to the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 15.[2]  RFP at 488.  The solicitation contemplated the award of a cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF), level-of-effort contract for a 20-month base period with one 2-year option and four 1-year options.[3]  RFP at 504-505; COS at 6-7.  In general terms, the contractor was to provide qualified personnel to successfully perform the PWS requirements in six specified areas:  (1) general contract requirements; (2) program management; (3) logistics management and integration; (4) systems engineering ...