The decomposition and combustion characteristics of ammonium dinitramide (ADN) based non-toxic aerospace propellant are analytically studied to determine the effects of catalytic bed structure (slenderness ratio) and operation parameters (mass fraction ratio of ADN/CH3OH) on the general performance within the ADN-based thruster. In the present research, the non-equilibrium temperature model is utilized to describe the heat transfer characteristics between the fluid phase and solid phase in the fixed bed. We determined the fluid resistance characteristics in the catalytic bed by experiments involving the method of pressure-mass. We have done the simulation study based on the available results in the literature and found the complex physical and chemical processes within the ADN thruster. Furthermore, an optimized catalytic bed slenderness ratio was observed with a value of 1.75 and the mass fraction ratio of 5.73 significantly influenced the propellant performance. These results could serve as a reference to explore the combustion characteristics within the thruster and the preparation of future propellants. (C) 2019 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.