Michael D. Leinbach (born c. 1953) is an aerospace engineer who was the former Shuttle Launch Director at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida.

In 1988, Leinbach became a NASA Test Director (NTD), responsible for directing daily operations at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex.

[1] In 2003, following Space Shuttle Columbia's breakup upon re-entry, Leinbach was the leader of the initial debris recovery team in Texas, and Louisiana.

He was named to lead the Columbia Reconstruction Team, whose goal was to determine the cause of the accident based only on the debris collected and reassembled at KSC.

[5] The following year, he began overseeing human space operations for United Launch Alliance (ULA), which builds and flies Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets.