Star Wars fans could be lining up to purchase hoverbikes like those featured in 'Return of the Jedi' as soon as 2017.
A Californian company 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, writes The Daily Mail.
The Aero-X is available to pre-order for $85,000 with an expected delivery date of 2017.
Aerofex told The Daily Mail: 'While development timing is always tricky to predict, we have been working on the vehicle for quite a long time...Although it may not appear the case, in our eyes the Aero-X is very similar to our flying prototype, which gives us confidence we are on path to deliver as promised.'
A $5,000 refundable deposit is needed to pre-order one of the bikes.
The vehicle is a hovercraft that reportedly rides like a motorbike, according to the company.
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.
However, driving it in a forest - as seen in Star Wars - 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 approximately 785lbs (365kg).
The bike is primarily built using carbon fiber and it has two ducted rotors that face the ground - giving it the ability to hover.
Changing the angle of the rotors using two control sticks allows it to fly in different directions.
The hoverbike responds to a pilot's leaning movements and natural sense of balance, writes The Daily Mail.
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 Storm troopers and flown through a forest.
The prototype version has been tested in the sandy environment of the Mojave Desert.
Aerofex released a video of an employee riding the vehicle in 2012 and at the time said that it planned on releasing pilotless-versions of the technology at the end of this year, writes The Daily Mail.
However, the company does not foresee these bikes become a part of mainstream use.
Aerofex told The Daily Mail: "I do not think you will ever see these vehicles on the road. They are designed for rural utility and would not be useful as a commuter vehicle. In addition, the legal barriers to such use are presently very high.
"We may see a derivative of this type of vehicle over the roads in the far off future, but that path is difficult to foresee."
