What about glider/parasail/parafoil etc?
With modern materials, it seems like the weight of a deployable glider/parasail etc seems more and more reasonable. I know its old fashioned, but even light aircraft are being developed with a full emergency parafoil system. I'm sure the weight of a chute system is far less than re-entry fuel, and few moving parts, etc... Even your issues about axis of force... All seem better with some sort of deploy-on-reentry system.
DL