This would open a lot of legal considerations in the US with respect to prohibition for remuneration for amateur radio services.
The argument can be made that if a station is only serving to RECEIVE transmissions, then the data gathering for hire may be legal, irrespective if the satellite were using amateur, scientific or commercial frequencies. This is because reception is not regulated by the FCC.
If the station were to tele-command the satellite on amateur frequencies, then transmissions would be for hire and thus prohibited.
The bigger issue is one of politics and cooperation. Serving as a no cost service has the political benefit of potentially "getting a ride" which has a bigger monetary benefit that providing an earth station for hire.
Of course there is the possibility of constructing a global network to benefit a start up like SPACE-X on a quasi-commercial basis that could include a ride along agreement. This network would of course have to avoid the amateur frequencies.