I think the more important step is that SpaceX has broken the "credibility ceiling" for private space ventures. When they started competing for the CRS and Commercial Crew contracts a number of important voices in Congress were amused but not convinced, and when it became clear they were going to deliver something on their promise they actively campaigned against such "risky" ventures, and trusting someone other than NASA & the original space contracting collective (Lockheed, Boeing, Aerojet, Etc.) with the ability to actually launch. There were the incredibly bogus "export licenses" which were code for regulating launches, there were outsized estimates of risks, amazing requirements for "proof" of competency. But now we're on the other side of that cloud and SpaceX, Orbital, and perhaps soon Blue Origin will be part of the "club". Pretty exciting times for the new kids, scary as heck for the previous club members (like ULA).
I also remember reading or hearing one of the original astronauts being ideologically resistant to private companies rather than civic supported programs being at the forefront of space exploration. However, here is the closest I can find, from Buzz Aldrin in a Reddit iAMA:
That's interesting, but a distinctly different topic. In the 60 Minutes show referenced in my Quora link, which is where I got the idea in the first place, Armstrong and Cernan were portrayed as being against private development in the manner of SpaceX because the profit motive would undermine safety.
