As NASA stays occupied testing its asteroid deflection technology in deep space, an asteroid that is billed as bigger than the Statue of Unity is in its way to Earth, reports indiatoday.in.

The object is about 210 metre in size which is larger than the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, that is hailed as the tallest statue in the world.

Named 2005 RX3, the asteroid will come within the Earth's vicinity on September 18, "hurtling at a staggering speed of 62,820 km per hour. The object will come as close as 47,42,252."

The asteroid was last on Earth in 2005 - the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is keeping a track of the object.

JPL has unveiled a data about its close encounters with Earth as old as 1900.

The asteroid will move past Earth in its orbit around the Sun and will be back to Earth in March 2036.

While 2005 RX3 will flyby by Earth on September 18, four others are also on a close approach to the planet as Nasa continue to track their orbital movements.