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Star Wars fans have spent years dreaming about the day when they might be able to drive one.

And now hoverbikes are set to become a reality as soon as 2017.

One company in California has created a bike that will let members of the public speed along at up to 45mph (72km/h) while hovering up to 12ft (3.6 metres) above the ground.

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Will it take off? One company in California has created a bike that will let members of the public speed along at 45mph (72km/h) while hovering up to 10ft (3metres) above the ground using its hoverbike (illustrated)

The Aero-X is available to pre-order for $85,000 (£50,730) with a delivery date of 2017, so sci-fi fans could be taking them for joy rides relatively soon.

A $5,000 (£2,983) refundable deposit is needed.

The vehicle is a hovercraft that reportedly rides like a motorbike and because of this, users can learn to operate it within a weekend.

The company says that the two-seater vehicle can be adapted for different off-road uses, such as search and rescue, border patrol, disaster relief and farming. Although judging by the popular sci-fi film, driving it in a forest may prove perilous.

The Aero-X can fly for up to one-and-a-half hours and measures almost 15ft (4.5 metres) long, 7ft (2metres) wide and is 4ft (1.25 metres) high. It weighs in at 785lbs (365kg).

Star Wars for real: The real-life hoverbike created by California firm Aerofex was tested in the Mojave desert and a video revealing the innovation to the world was released in 2012

Soon you could be a Jedi: Aerofex's Aero-X bike resembles the hoverbikes that feature in Return of the Jedi, where they were used in a thrilling forest chase (pictured)

Futuristic: The 21st century Earth version is built primarily of carbon fibre and has two ducted rotors facing the ground (pictured) enabling it to hover. The vehicle has been tested in the desert and consumers should be able to get their hands on it in 2017, according to the California-based firm

Built primarily of carbon fibre, it has two ducted rotors facing the ground enabling it to hover.

Changing the angle of the rotors using two control sticks allows it to manoeuvred in different directions.

The hoverbike responds to a pilot's leaning movements and natural sense of balance. It takes off vertically and lands without runways or forward speed.

The production model will have numerous safety features including a roll bar and whole vehicle airbags.

Hovering bikes were made famous by 'Return of the Jedi,' where they were piloted by Stormtroopers and flown through a forest, but the real life version has been tested in the safer surroundings of the Mojave Desert.

In 2012 Aerofex released a video of an employee riding the vehicle and at the time said that it planned on releasing pilotless-versions of the technology at the end of this year.

 

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The hoverbike responds to a human pilot's leaning movements and natural sense of balance. It takes off vertically and lands without runways or forward speed, much like the fictional version in Star Wars (pictured)