Leading a faction alone is a hard work, and I can say that as someone who led one into officialdom, then watched it fall into pieces because of being a niche in a niche (which is Kusari). Discovery is pretty much non-profit, Devs are spending their free time connecting pieces - having their ups and downs as someone said already. While it is really far from dying, most of the Discovery population are guys who are unable to run Elite Dangerous and similiar games, or are nostalgic enough to be back in here. I'm both, ironically.
However, the biggest flaw of Discovery was the toxic members of community, which were either removed or silenced their toxicity. Or at least their toxicity is not as visible as it used to be. Many players leave, because they have "better games to play". What is happening right now is a huge unknown, but it's not as bad as in case of other stuff like Crossfire or the newest Star Wars TC - which could only wish for such a population we have. We are pretty safe so far. Maybe on support or any other diabolical device - but still able to kick, and bring interest.