Washington, Sep 5 (DPA) A large piece of space junk flew past the International Space Station (ISS) Friday without posing any threat, US space agency NASA said.

A piece of a European Ariane-5 rocket passed within 1.3 km of the ISS, but not close enough to pose a risk to the station or its crew.

'The flight control team is continuing to monitor that debris, but again it did pass as expected and is no concern to the orbiting complex,' said a NASA spokesperson.

NASA was monitoring the approaching 19-square-metre piece of space junk for days. The agency determined that although it was a relatively large piece, there was no danger for the station or astronauts and no avoidance manoeuvre was planned.