- Free Sample
- Request Quote
(773) 277-1600 | - ITAR Registered
-
-
-
(773) 277-1600 | Space and satellite hardware is exposed to launch vibration, thermal cycling, propellant chemistry, vacuum service, and demanding cleanliness requirements. Microscopic burrs, embedded contaminants, oxide scale, and machining smear can become mission-critical failure points.
Able Electropolishing works with manufacturers of components for launch vehicles, satellites, propulsion systems, cryogenic and propellant handling systems, RF hardware, optical assemblies, and ground support equipment. Our process removes surface peaks, free iron, burrs, and contamination while forming a dense chromium-rich passive layer on stainless steels.
For mission-critical hardware, electropolishing can improve corrosion resistance, cleanability, fatigue performance, flow performance, and inspection reliability in a single controlled surface-finishing step.
Send us your space or satellite component for a free evaluation. We'll electropolish it at no cost so you can evaluate surface finish and cleanliness before production.
Launch loads, thermal cycling, hard vacuum, and propellant chemistry punish surface defects that would be invisible in a terrestrial application. Electropolishing removes the micro-contaminants, burrs, and recast layers that turn into failure modes once a vehicle leaves the pad.
Removes embedded free iron, grinding compounds, oils, and light rust so parts meet outgassing specs for sensitive optics and electronics bays.
Satellite Optics · Propellant SystemsReduces Ra by up to 50% in a single step — critical for signal conductivity on RF waveguides, scatter control on optical surfaces, and flow efficiency through valves, orifices, and manifolds.
Waveguides · Optics · Valve SeatsRemoves the stress risers and micro-cracks where fatigue cracks initiate — measurably increasing fatigue life on parts that bend, flex, and twist through launch and stage separation.
Fasteners · Flexures · StrutsPre-launch life on coastal pads, storage in humid integration halls, and propellant exposure. Up to 30x greater corrosion resistance when subjected to ASTM B-117 testing.
Pre-Launch · Coastal GSERemoves microscopic burrs from valves, orifices, filter housings, and manifolds — preventing particulate contamination and flow instability in fuel, oxidizer, and helium systems.
Valves · Manifolds · OrificesUltra-clean, oxide-free surfaces for TIG, laser, and e-beam weld joints. Prevents weld defects in pressure vessels, COPVs, and propellant tank assemblies.
Pressure Vessels · Tank WeldmentsInjector faces, turbopump impellers, and actuator housings machined by EDM carry a recast layer that cracks under load. Electropolishing removes recast layer while maintaining dimensional tolerances.
Injectors · Turbopumps · ActuatorsRemoves machining smear (.0002″–.0005″ per surface) that seals microcracks from FPI and DPI penetrant. Restores true defect visibility for AS9100 and NADCAP-grade nondestructive inspection.
FPI · DPI · NDTElectropolishing liberates oxygen during processing, avoiding the hydrogen uptake common to pickling and acid cleaning — critical for high-strength PH stainless and high-nickel superalloys.
17-4 PH · Inconel · HastelloyElectropolishing helps prepare critical metal components for contamination-sensitive, high-cycle, high-cleanliness, and corrosion-prone service conditions.
Surface defects are reduced before repeated expansion and contraction cycles.
Smoother, cleaner wetted surfaces for fuel, oxidizer, helium, and purge systems.
Improved corrosion resistance for salt fog and humid pre-launch environments.
Reduced burrs and stress risers in high-cycle structural and mechanism parts.
Quality-system alignment for aerospace and defense supply chains.
Electropolishing of stainless steel surfaces where specification control matters.
Passivation options available when required after electropolishing.
Passivation removes free iron and forms a chromium-oxide passive layer on stainless steel. Able runs all three common approaches in-house — and for flight-critical hardware where corrosion margin, cleanliness, and fatigue life all matter, electropolishing followed by passivation is the gold standard.
Independent lab testing per ASTM B-117 salt spray: electropolished 304, 410, 420, and Trinamet samples showed no rusting after 888 hours of continuous exposure, while passivated-only samples began showing corrosion at 24–72 hours.
From the turbopump housing to the solar array hinge, we finish the structural, fluid, and RF hardware that makes it onto the vehicle — and the GSE that supports it on the ground.
Send us a print >Injectors, nozzles, turbopump impellers & housings, gimbal hardware.
Valves, orifices, regulators, fittings, manifolds, filter housings, flex lines.
LOX & LH₂ valve bodies, cryo manifolds, vacuum-jacketed fittings, cold-side plumbing.
Cold-gas thrusters, Hall-effect channels, ion-thruster grids, feedline hardware.
Brackets, struts, panel inserts, hinge hardware, deployable mechanisms.
Liners, boss fittings, and weld-prep surfaces for composite-wrapped pressure vessels.
Cold plates, heat-pipe fittings, regen-cooled chamber liners, radiator hardware.
Waveguide runs, feedhorns, filter cavities, isolator housings — for signal-path conductivity.
Flight-critical fasteners in 300-series, A286, Inconel, and titanium.
Umbilical plates, loading manifolds, test-stand hardware, pad plumbing, handling tooling.
Fluorescent (FPI) and dye (DPI) penetrant inspection only works if surface-breaking defects are open to the penetrant. Machining, grinding, and EDM smear metal across the surface and partially seal the microcracks, porosity, and laps inspection is designed to find. Electropolishing dissolves that smeared layer uniformly, exposes true defects, and leaves a bright, oxide-free surface penetrant can enter consistently lot-to-lot.
Chemical etching is the traditional pre-FPI surface prep, but it carries real metallurgical risks — intergranular attack, hydrogen pickup, and lot-to-lot inconsistency from bath age and temperature. Electropolishing removes the same smeared layer without attacking grain boundaries or introducing hydrogen.
| Factor | Chemical Etching | Electropolishing |
|---|---|---|
| Smear layer removal | Good — removes work-hardened smear | Excellent — dissolves peaks and smear uniformly |
| Defect opening | Opens crack mouths but can attack base metal | Opens crack mouths cleanly, no base-metal damage |
| Dimensional control | Poor — uneven, hard to predict material loss | ±0.0001″ uniform removal per surface |
| Hydrogen embrittlement | Risk on high-strength alloys (PH, 17-4) | None — anodic process evolves O₂ at part surface |
| Intergranular attack | Risk on sensitized stainless | None — dissolution is uniform across grains |
| Surface finish after prep | Rougher / matte — can create new indication traps | Up to 50% Ra improvement — reduces false calls |
| Alpha case removal (Ti, Ni) | Partial, uneven | Complete and uniform — restores fatigue life |
| Process repeatability | Bath age and temperature drift | Controlled by current, time, and chemistry |
| Post-prep cleaning | Multiple rinses, neutralization required | Standard rinse — no acid residue |
| Spec alignment | AMS 2649, ASTM E1417 (with cautions) | ASTM B912, compatible with AMS 2700 & NADCAP |
| Best use case | Low-cost prep where tolerances do not matter | Flight-critical parts where FPI reliability matters |
The bottom line for flight hardware: etching can mask — or create — the very defects FPI is meant to find. Electropolishing cleans the surface without introducing hydrogen, alpha case artifacts, or dimensional drift, so what shows up under UV is a real defect, not a false alarm.
Drag the slider to simulate stock removal and see how surface properties change in real time, including simulated SEM cross-section imagery.
Wire EDM is used throughout space and satellite hardware — injector orifices, turbopump impellers, waveguides, and intricate switch components — but it leaves behind a recast layer of re-deposited, rapidly-cooled metal. That layer is brittle, prone to microcracks, and introduces dimensional variation on features that were just machined to tight tolerance.
Electropolishing dissolves the recast layer uniformly, controlled to ±.0002". Material is removed from high points first, so the underlying geometry is preserved while the amorphous surface is stripped away to expose true base metal.
Electropolishing also delivers up to 50% Ra improvement and meaningful fatigue life gains when taking approximately .001" total material removal.
Read the full case study >We meet or exceed the industry-standard specifications your quality team will ask for. Certificates of compliance ship with every order.
Quality management system certified for aerospace, space, and defense manufacturing supply chains.
Registered with the U.S. State Department Directorate of Defense Trade Controls for defense-related and controlled launch hardware.
Standard specification for stainless steel passivation using electropolishing — commonly called out on flight prints.
Aerospace Material Specification for passivation of corrosion-resistant steels. Nitric and citric methods, all types.
Quality management with documentation, part traceability, and process control on every production line.
NASA Johnson Space Center process specifications for electropolishing, pickling, etching, descaling, and recast-layer removal on flight hardware.
Search or filter alloys commonly used in launch, satellite, propulsion, and ground support hardware.
| Alloy | Category | Finish | Typical Space Parts | Space Environment | EP Benefit | Ra Before → After |
|---|
Learn why electropolishing is 30× more effective than passivation alone for corrosion-critical aerospace, launch, and GSE hardware.
Burr-free valves, fittings, manifolds, and fasteners help reduce contamination and fatigue-initiation points in flight hardware.
Find solutions for burrs, roughness, corrosion, contamination, and surface defects that can compromise aerospace metal components.
Alloy, geometry, tolerance, cleanliness, and space-service requirements assessed.
Oils, oxides, residues, and handling contamination removed before processing.
Controlled current dissolves surface peaks, burrs, smear, and embedded contaminants.
When specified, stainless components receive additional passivation treatment.
Parts inspected, documented, packed, and shipped for production requirements.
Electropolishing is a precise and controllable process for eliminating defects from the surface of metal parts. But it’s not the only finishing process available to manufacturers; there are mechanical, chemical and plating processes that can remove defects and improve the…
Metal fabrication for parts used in the medical and electronics industries can involve dimensions as small as a grain of rice — or even a strand of hair. At that scale, surface defects may be invisible to the naked eye,…
While stainless steel is known for its corrosion resistance, it contains iron, which is susceptible to corrosion, especially if parts are frequently exposed to moisture or harsh environments. Contamination left behind by machining processes can also impede the corrosion resistance…
Electropolishing is a highly controlled electrochemical process that directly impacts surface integrity, corrosion resistance, cleanliness, and performance.