[Protest of Selection of Another Offerer Under NASA Solicitation]

A firm protested the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) selection of another offerer for contract award under a request for proposals (RFP) for a computer storage system. The protester contended that the RFP called for a premium level system which the proposed awardee could not satisfy. NASA asserted that the proposed awardee met all of the solicitation requirements except one, which NASA relaxed in its proposal evaluation. The protester contended that, if it had known of the relaxed requirement, its own price would have been lower. A GAO review of the proposals disclosed that the lower price of the proposed awardee's proposal was due to the use of a different technical approach than that used by the protester. Therefore, the protester's price would not have been competitive even if it had reduced its price to meet the relaxed specification. Since the protester was not prejudiced by the relaxation of the RFP requirements, the protest was academic and not for consideration. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed.