With development of Ariane 6 and Vega-C now in the final phase, these protocols will govern the long-lasting exploitation of Ariane 6 and Vega-C. They cover aspects related to technical and industrial responsibilities in the wide range of areas pertaining to operations such as compliance with high-level requirements over the lifetime of both launchers, launch authorisation, configuration management, and maintenance of various assets.

Ariane 6 and Vega-C are of primary importance in guaranteeing access to space for public European missions. ESA has adopted for its missions, and recommended to other European institutional customers, a set of guiding principles for an effective and complementary exploitation of Ariane 6 and Vega-C, based on the respective launcher performances.