In the late 1970s/early 1980s I read a study about up-sizing the space shuttle to carry 1,000 tons(!) payload to earth orbit. There was a crude drawing of such a beast, and if I remember correctly, the whole craft at launch weighed 27,000 tons! I believe it was two stages, both reusable, but both were piloted (IIRC), and liquid rocket propelled. No solid fuel boosters.
Edit:It was an article in a magazine, as I remember.
I tried googling the study, but no luck; my google-fu is weak, I guess. Can anyone help me find the study on-line, please?
Edit2: The first stage was not piloted and so couldn't be reusable, like the S-IC.. There was also a drawing of a smaller version with a smaller (100 ton?) payload.