HAN and ammonium dinitramide (ADN), another energetic ionic compound, were investigated as less-toxic replacements for toxic hydrazine for monopropellant rockets where only a catalyst is needed to cause decomposition.

[5] HAN and ADN will work as monopropellants in water solution, as well as when dissolved with fuel liquids such as methanol.

[7] Developed by DSSP for special effects[8] and microthrusters, these were the first HAN-based propellants in space; and aboard the Naval Research Laboratory SpinSat, launched in 2014.

[14] The specific impulse of AF-M315E is 257 s.[1] The aqueous solution of HAN can be added with fuel components such as methanol, glycine, TEAN (triethanolammonium nitrate), and amines to form high performance monopropellants for space propulsion systems.

[15] China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) launched a demonstration of HAN-based thruster aboard a microsatellite in January 2018.