I'd say yes because:
As soon as the human scientific level reaches a point where a certain technology becomes usable governments, companies and indiviuals will begin to tinker with it.
Let's compare the automotive industry with the space industry. In 1886 <PERSON> patented his 'Benz Patent-Motorwagen' - the first car. He built it with little assistance and his wife was able to drive the third version through germany in 1888. Let's jump forward 50 years to 1936. The automobile is a common sight in our society. (Rich) individuals use it, the government uses it as well as companies. There are many competetive companies that produce them. Many big companies and brands we see today (Mercedes, Audi, Opel, Toyota e.g.) started as small businesses that grew due to their success.
In 1957 the Sovjet Union launched the first satellite. 1006
This was no individual task. Thousands of people and a whole megacountry were behind the development of the R-7. The USA quickly caught up and for a long time space exploration was a matter of this two countries. If we jump 50 years forward (2007) again we see a picture that's quite different from the car's 'success story'. Some big companies and government owned space agencies still do all the contracts. Even very rich individuals can't get to space, even if theoretically they'd have the money simply because of the little capacity of manned spaceships we have. The whole individual and small business tinkering level that made the automotive industry so fast growing is completely missing because you need a very big amount of money, material and workforce to even enter, let alone succeed in this business.
If you imagine you could make a rocket that could travel to space and back about as big as a truck, you'd need a lot less material and people. A small team could build one. You'd need weaker rocket motors with less fuel which would mean you could do it with less expensive materials and bigger quality tolerances in the parts you use.
So I think yes, easier access to space would mean that we would advance much faster in the technology we use. 199