Originally Posted by
A_Van
You are right about the plasma issue. But it is well-known for decades since the problem to communicate with descending spacecraft crew had arisen. Many successful research and experiments were undertaken recently in US, Russia, China and even Germany. No idea if anybody implemented any solution in a real thing, but all this seems doable.
I thought that problem had been solved; the Space Shuttle maintained continuous communication during re-entry, via a satellite (TDRSS) "behind" the re-entry path, which is how NASA maintained data/comms during the first part of the Columbia disaster.
Mind you, as re-entry vehicles go the Shuttle was rather large; it might be a greater challenge for smaller vehicles.