Delest is screwed.
Why do you say that?
Because look at their expansion options:
Based on ONLY the information we have available from the map, the Delest start as Joe Average in funds and resources (med- to low starting capital and low-ish income), but with a considerable political and diplomatic penalty. Expansion appears to be the only option for them, if they are to compete with the other factions.
Let's see what expansion options they have, shall we?
Fortune is tasty, but literally
every faction has a starlance leading to it. It's going to be hotly contested, and I doubt anyone will get to mine the system for too long.
Virgo is 'secure' but it only appears to offer +100/+700 if fully colonised. I don't know what the colonisation rules are like, but it is a questionable investment.
Furthermore, the Delest are completely isolated from the front lines; assuming the Cyrvans / Hierarchy come from Orion (and no sneaky starlances open up elsewhere), the Delest fleets will have to negotiate passage through at
least 5 systems to reach Tamy and they will have to cross other nations' sovereign territory. Given the diplomatic penalty the Delest start with, that might be a problem.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not crying 'Delest weak, Spoon fix!'. For one thing, we don't know the rules yet; and we also don't know what surprises our GM is going to be throwing our way. Furthermore, we have no idea what starting fleets each faction will have, or other factors. What I
am saying is that Delest appear to start from an inherently inferior geopolitical position. How this will affect the game is yet to be seen.