[chmod775]

There shouldn't be much of an issue with designing the the payload as an entry vehicle. Give it the ability to destructively remove itself from the tether, then parachute down. Or just build your tether next to a body of water and have the payload steer into that.

That is if your payload wasn't so high up, it's now on its way to an orbit around earth. I think physically the place of departure should be the periapsis of its orbit, so even with orbital decay through atmospheric drag you'll have long enough to figure where to steer it.