The heavy stuff is all at the engine-end, so absent any lift, that's the orientation you get. Shuttle SRB's hung from parachutes in the nose, but a chute landi

The heavy stuff is all at the engine-end, so absent any lift, that's the orientation you get. Shuttle SRB's hung from parachutes in the nose, but a chute landing is still pretty fast. The hot motors were dunked in salt water at speed... generally worse all round. Solid rockets are one-shot deals that can't be relit. The Russians have been working on a booster that deploys a wing and glides back home, with a little nose-mounted engine to drive it. But that's been in development hell for over a decade.