Lessons from the Dawn mission to Ceres and Vesta

The Dawn mission orbited and explored Ceres and Vesta, the two largest objects in the main asteroid belt. One of the key enabling technologies was solar electric propulsion. After more than 11 years in flight, Dawn completed operations in October 2018. I describe some lessons from the perspective of chief engineer and mission manager/mission director. •Dawn operated in deep space from 2007 to 2018.•Dawn orbited and explored Ceres and Vesta, the largest objects in the asteroid belt.•The mission was enabled by solar electric propulsion.•Dawn provides lessons for missions with electric propulsion and for other missions.