Isn't there a lot of work that goes into post processing the data? It wouldn't matter if you just want an awesome background image, but using the data for some kind of actual work... there is a lot of calibration to be done. I was working with some ESA Sentinel data several months ago - not fun.

Edit: For those who don't normally work with this stuff, I'm talking about not only correcting geospacial data - but also bringing the sensor data in line with a bunch of other sensors and past datasets. It quickly goes from "Oh, pretty pictures!" to "Do I really want to do this anymore? Can I ever trust data again?" That said, doing your own ground segment is cool - just know that there is a whole lot more work to do beyond actually receiving the radio transmissions.

https://earth.esa.int/web/sentinel/level-1-post-processing-a...