Asteroid Mineral Allocation Algorithm for Global Equity

Abstract

The exploration of space and the struggle for equity are eternal human pursuits. With the vision that humans will be able to mine on asteroids in the near future, it is significant to propose an asteroid mineral allocation strategy that promotes equitable global development. Firstly, the global equity model is proposed to quantify the global equity through 10 indicators of development. The weights of these indicators are calculated by the Entropy Weight Method (EWM). Then, the comprehensive development index of each country is calculated by TOPSIS. By using the Thiel index to evaluate the inequity among countries' comprehensive development index, equity index will be defined. Based on the multiple resource allocation algorithm Dominant Resource Fairness, the DRF algorithm applicable to asteroid mineral resource allocation is proposed by adding the process of classifying countries and resources and assigning different weights to them. In order to verify whether the proposed allocation strategy is effective in improving global equity, a simulation system will be created. By comparing with random allocation, unrestricted allocation and max-min fairness, weighted DRF algorithm is proved to be significantly better than random allocation and unrestricted allocation, and achieves almost the same effect as max-min fairness while reducing the restriction on resource allocation to developed countries. Therefore weighted DRF can significantly improve global equity by proper allocation of asteroid mineral. According to the results simulation system, after 50 years of asteroid mineral resource allocation, the global equity index was able to achieve a decrease in the Thiel index from 0.3 to 0.1.