Who do you think designed and built the Saturn V? Redstone? Atlas? Ariane?
Commercial companies making a profit.
Redstone: Designer: Army Ballistic Missile Agency (Now Marshall Spaceflight Center) Manufacturer: Chrysler
Atlas: Convair and its successor interests (General Dynamics, Lockheed, ULA)
Saturn V: NASA Marshall, Boeing, North American and Douglas
Ariane: EADS Astrium and Arianespace/CNES (French Space Agency)
So, yeah, they've always been commercial, but they haven't always been commerically driven or (entirely) commercially managed.
Who do you think designed and built the Saturn V? Redstone? Atlas? Ariane?
Commercial companies making a profit.