I think that's part of the point here. The idea of having vehicles like this with sharp forward edges is not a new one but the technology of thermal shielding has finally caught up with it. That way a suitably "sharp" craft can get those shock cones expanding way out infront of the body without exceeding the thermal limits of the material of the tip and melting it or whatever.

If I remember correctly, they're are a new class of ablative compounds with an extremely high (melting?/vaporization?) temperature and a high heat of (fusion?/vaporization?) so as they do ablate, they take alot of heat energy with them and dynamically cool the surface.