Record Appears to Show Agency Evaluated SBIR Proposal Against Wrong Mission; GAO B-414514, Global Aerospace Corporation

Protest challenging the agency’s award of a phase II research and development contract is dismissed as untimely, where a procurement conducted under the Small Business Innovation Research program does not fall within the debriefing exception to GAO’s timeliness rules, and where the protester knew of the grounds of its protest prior to the debriefing; and protest arguing the agency unreasonably evaluated the protester’s proposal is sustained, where the protester unambiguously proposed a solution for a specific agency mission, but the record appears to show the agency evaluated the proposal against the requirements for an entirely different project.