Lyten Graphene Filament Powers Modovolo's US-Made Aerospace 3D Printer

Why Modovolo Built Its Own Printer

Modovolo, an Upstate New York aerospace and defense company, originally built the BFP out of frustration. The company could not find a 3D printer fast enough or affordable enough to produce aerospace-grade components at the scale its drone program required. So it designed its own.

The result is a modular, containerized large-format printer that can be deployed almost anywhere. Rather than waiting for parts to ship from centralized factories, operators can manufacture structural components on site. The platform is built entirely from US-sourced equipment and materials, which matters for customers bound by domestic sourcing rules.

What Lyten's Filament Brings

Lyten's PA1205 is a nylon-based filament infused with the company's proprietary 3D Graphene. According to Lyten, the material delivers double the X-Y axis tensile strength of comparable carbon fiber-reinforced filaments, plus 40% higher Z-axis strength and 50% greater impact resistance.

Those numbers are unverified by independent labs, but Modovolo tested the material before committing to it. Justin Call, Modovolo's CEO, said the filament prints stronger and lighter parts while maintaining better surface finish and speed than competing products he evaluated.

The graphene enhancement also improves temperature performance and reduces warping during printing. For a platform aimed at aerospace tolerances, dimensional stability matters as much as raw strength.

A Full Domestic Supply Chain

The partnership is about more than materials. Lyten and Modovolo are positioning the BFP plus PA1205 combination as an end-to-end domestic alternative to imported carbon fiber and offshore machining. Both companies emphasize that the printer, the filament, and the final parts can all be sourced and manufactured inside the United States.

That pitch resonates with defense customers facing pressure to secure supply chains. The same logic appears across the additive manufacturing industry right now: domestic production, distributed manufacturing, and reduced reliance on overseas suppliers.

Where It Is Heading

Modovolo has used Lyten filaments since 2025 to manufacture parts for its Lift Quadcopter-X drone. The new agreement expands that relationship from drone production to the broader BFP platform rollout.

The companies plan to showcase the integrated system at the Civil-Military Innovation Institute's Northern Strike exercises and other aerospace events later this year. For makers watching the industrial side of 3D printing, the pairing is a clear signal: high-performance filament and purpose-built printers are starting to converge around specific verticals, especially defense and aerospace.