> Seems like we used to take more risks or have less bureaucracy or ???

More like we had a Cold War to win via technological showmanship.

Today's world has more important, more fundamental political problems to solve (not that we're doing a good job on those either, but regardless). At the same time:

> it seems to take a lot longer to get things done and get something flying into space than it used to

It's never been easier to "get something flying into space" thanks to, surprisingly, private industry. Walking on the moon may be a different story, but significant progress has been made getting both objects and people into space.